ISKANDAR MALAYSIA IS NO PLACE FOR SPECULATORS

By Muin Abdul Majid

DUBAI, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) is rolling out
the red carpet to long-term investors in Iskandar Malaysia but warns that it
will give the cold shoulder to speculators eyeing a quick profit out of the
special economic region.

President and chief executive Arlida Ariff said Iskandar Investment, the
catalytic developer of the region in Malaysia's southern state of Johor, was in
talks with prospective investors from the Middle East, the United Kingdom as
well as Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia.

Trips to Asian economic juggernauts China and India are also in the pipeline
to scout for potential partners.

"We don't want speculators. What we want are long-term investors, genuine
investors who will be together with us in partnership for many, many years,"
Arlida told Bernama on the sidelines of the Dubai Cityscape 2009 property fair
here.

According to her, in the current economic and financial climate, it was
understandable that people would be more cautious about where to park their
money.

"The issue now is that they're much more discerning, and they'll be looking
for less risky ventures. And we believe this is what Iskandar Malaysia offers,"
she said of the mixed-use development planned for completion in 2025.

Arlida drove home the point that Iskandar Investment was firm in its
commitment to deliver Iskandar Malaysia, a new growth area spanning 2,217 square
kilometres in southern Peninsular Malaysia, about three times the size of
neighbouring Singapore.

"We're still proceeding (with the project) despite the economic crisis
around the world. This is still a viable project to invest in," she said.

Besides property and real estate, Iskandar Malaysia touts investment
opportunities in health services, education, finance, information and
communications technology and creative industries, electrical and electronics,
petrochemical and oleo-chemical, food and agro-processing, logistics and related
services, and tourism.

Instead of slowing down, the Malaysian government had asked for development
projects in Iskandar Malaysia to be accelerated, said Arlida.

She cited the example of the Legoland Malaysia theme park whose completion
date had been brought forward to April 2012 instead of around 2013.

Arlida indicated that as far as the Medini urban development project was
concerned, Iskandar Investment's Middle Eastern partners in the scheme continued
to maintain their presence and meet their obligations.

Among Middle East investors already on board Iskandar Malaysia are Mubadala
Development Company, Kuwait Finance House and Millennium Development
International.

"I think we're lucky because our selection of partners had been properly
done. These are blue-chip organisations that have the depth," said the Iskandar
Investment president.

Arlida felt that it was now important to award construction contracts and
get things moving on the ground.

"We're building up our credibility, if you like. We need to show the level
of work progressing on the ground is maintained at a good pace," she said.

For Medini alone, over RM1 billion worth of infrastructure projects have
been awarded. They involve earthwork, road construction, utilities, sewage
treatment plants, water reservoirs and others.

The effective completion date for Medini's infrastructure developments is
end-2011, said Arlida.

"For me, it's good to have signed up all those (investment) commitments but
what's important now is to translate that into real action, the implementation
aspect on the ground," she said.

From just six personnel when it first started in March 2007, Iskandar
Investment now has around 300 staff.

"That's a tremendous growth for any organisation and we'll continue to
expand, setting up subsidiaries, joint-venture companies and so on," she said.

Besides developing catalytic projects for Iskandar Malaysia, Iskandar
Investment is also an investment holding company which works closely with the
Iskandar Regional Development Authority to drive investment into the region.
-- BERNAMA