Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE DEWAN TUN ISMAIL PUTRA WORLD
TRADE CENTRE, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 02/09/87
Tajuk/Title : THE 1987 ASIA-PACIFIC REAL
ESTATE CONGRESS
Dato Abdul Rahim Rahman,
Chairman of the Organising Committee and
President of the Asia Pacific Real
Estate Federation;
Mr. Albert Fish,
World President of the International
Real Estate Federation (FIABCI);
Distinguished delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to thank the organising committee of the
Congress for inviting me to officiate the opening of this
Congress. I would also like to thank the Council of Asia
Pacific Real Estate Federation for choosing Kuala Lumpur as
the venue for this year's Congress and to congratulate the
Malaysian Chapter and the Institution of Surveyors, Malaysia
for organising it and the Housing Developers' Association
for co-sponsoring the event. To the foreign delegates, I
wish you all a very warm welcome.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
2. It is appropriate and beneficial that you all have a
chance to meet and exchange
information and new ideas for the advancement of the real
estate industry. This sector in Malaysia is currently
facing difficulties after the many real estate booms which
we had enjoyed. I believe that others in the Asia-Pacific
region too have faced similar problems. The Congress would
also provide the participants an opportunity to learn and
discover innovative and efficient approaches to solve
contemporary problems related to the industry. In this
context, the theme of your Conference "Economic growth
through real estate" is indeed appropriate.
3. This Congress provides an opportunity for delegates
from the Asia-Pacific region to forge greater rapport and
understanding. It will also encourage greater
internationalties and promote more real estate investment
among the Asia-Pacific nations. Furthermore, it serves
to provide the professionals and the public in general a
greater understanding of the industry through presentation
by professional speakers on various aspects of their areas
of expertise. I have been told that the papers to be
presented touch on a variety of subjects relevant to the
developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
4. Touching on the economic situation in Malaysia, in the
past we depended largely on primary commodities such as tin,
palm oil, rubber, and cocoa. Like other primary commodity
producers, our economy has also been affected by the global
recession. Fortunately, we recognised the need to diversify
of our economic activities early. The main thrust of the
diversification strategy has been in industrialisation. In
line with this strategy, we embarked on a programme of
industrialisation with emphasis on manufacturing for export
form ore than a decade. This strategy has proven to be
right and our achievements in the manufacturing sector in
the last few years have helped to cushion the effects of
declining commodity prices and demands. With the recent
introduction of various measures and generous incentives for
investments, and with the improvement in prices of some
primary commodities, we are optimistic of the future
outlook.
5. In the past, our economy has achieved an average of 6%
growth per annum. However, foreign investors need not fear
and need not be pessimistic because of the current low
growth. Although we are not yet an industrialised country,
we have achieved a high degree of success in our
industrialisation. As a matter of fact, we have entered the
high-tech and heavy industry areas. The formulation and
implementation of the Industrial Master Plan, with an
emphasis on export-oriented manufacturing sector, will
accelerate further industrial growth. We also have the
resources, ingredients and resilience to steer us out
of the present setbacks to higher economic growth in the
years to come.
6. Given that economic background, the construction and
real estate industry used to be one of the pillars of
Malaysia's economy and has experienced rapid and vigorous
growth until 1984. It has advanced from developing small
estates to well-planned townships. Where development
companies were once mere family businesses, Malaysia now
boasts of large conglomerates to equal any that other
nations have to offer. Since then, the industry has faced
problems arising from the backlash of the economic
recession. But I must emphasize that we have a
property-owning policy which has generated many booms, and
we are confident that the policy can help to rejuvenate the
real estate industry.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
7. Malaysia is making every possible move to help and
boost the real estate industry. Such measures include
lowering alienation premiums, reduced land use conversion
charges, trimming of infrastructural requirements,
minimising red tape to quicken the approval process, cheaper
financing charges, enabling partial wthdrawal of
contributions of the Employees Provident Fund for purchasing
of houses, just to mention a few from the long list of
measures that we have introduced and implemented.
8. One of the significant changes that we have made is to
enable foreigners to purchase various types of real estate,
namely agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial.
Perhaps, investors should take this opportunity to invest in
real estate in Malaysia as long-term investment. In
relation to that, our present population is about sixteen
million and our country has a growth rate of about 2.6%.
With a rapid demographic growth, there will be a continuous
strong demand for shelter.
9. There is still a shortage of housing for the lower and
medium-income groups. In order to cater for the
lower-income group, we have introduced and implemented a
special housing programme which has set a target of 80,000
homes per annum for three years from 1986. Although we
have technocrats and professionals looking into more
expeditious methods of constructing buildings with some of
them already in use, there is still room for further foreign
expertise and capital investment in this sector.
10. There is also a strong demand for medium cost houses
throughout the country. With lower prices for some building
materials and reduction in construction costs, developers
and entrepreneurs with right strategies can enjoy a
reasonable margin of profit.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
11. I hope that your deliberations at this Congress will
generate mutual benefits to our respective nations. I also
hope you will have a pleasant stay in Kuala Lumpur and that
you will also have the opportunity to visit other places in
Malaysia. I now have much pleasure in declaring the 1987
Asia-Pacific Real Estate Congress open.
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