Post date: May 12, 2010 12:8:30 PM
New Straits Times
05/04/10
Kenny Loh
MALAYSIAN Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) looks set to benefit from the latest government plan to develop 3,000 acres of land in Sungai Buloh into a new hub for the Klang Valley.
This is in view of the government forming a joint venture with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) to promote the development and the fact MRCB has strong backing from EPF, its biggest shareholder with a 30.6 per
cent stake.
Furthermore, MRCB chief executive officer Mohamed Razeek Hussain recently said the company's rights issue was to raise funds for business expansion, and the bulk of the proceeds estimated at between RM508 million
and RM541 million would be used to augment its landbank, especially in the Klang Valley, for residential and commercial projects.
Last year, the government announced plans to sell or co-develop its prized landbank in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur; and in Sungai Buloh, Selangor.
In addition, Budget 2010 also identified 100 acres in Jalan Cochrane near Taman Maluri in Cheras and 3,000 acres at the Rubber Research Institute of Malaysia (RRIM) in Sungai Buloh for similar purpose. The RRIM land is situated near an industrial park in Kota Damansara.
The market rate of the Jalan Cochrane land was estimated at RM100psf to RM150psf then and the RRIM land at RM30psf.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak in his keynote address at the recent Invest Malaysia 2010 Conference said the development of the new hub in Sungai Buloh could result in over RM5 billion of new
investments with a lot of opportunities for the private sector to participate in.
At the event attended mostly by portfolio managers, he also announced that several other land parcels located in Jalan Lidcol, Jalan Stonor and Jalan Ampang, all in KL, will be tendered out for development by the private sector.
He said the government will incur costs maintaining these assets if left idle, adding its initiative will be a good kick-off for more outright sales and joint ventures between the public and private sectors in land development.