IRDA keeps options open on Cityscape Dubai 2009

Posted on | April 28, 2009

By BUSINESS TIMES

DUBAI: Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) is keeping its options open on its participation at Cityscape Dubai 2009 in October to further promote Iskandar Malaysia, a special economic corridor being developed in southern Malaysia.

“We’re keeping an open interest about taking part in Cityscape Dubai, unless something very negative happens,” IRDA’s strategic communications chief Jameson Pias said on the sidelines of Cityscape Abu Dhabi 2009 which concluded in the UAE’s capital last week.

He said that continuous efforts must be made to raise the profile of Iskandar Malaysia, a 2,217sq km mixed development planned for completion in 2025.

Alluding to the current global property slowdown, Pias said: “There will be glitches here and there in the property market but this shouldn’t be a basis for us to be discouraged. It’s a question of how you manage the situation and look for niches.”

He said future participations in events like Cityscape would convey the message that IRDA was committed to its Middle Eastern partners in Iskandar Malaysia and, at the same time, present an opportunity to seek out new partners in the project that offers good investment possibilities in other economic segments besides property and real estate.

The economic zone is being developed based on nine pillars, namely health services, educational services, financial services, information and communications technology and creative industries, electrical and electronics, petrochemical and oleo-chemical, food and agro-processing, logistics and related services, and tourism.

“Certainly some people have been hurt by the global economic crisis and credit crunch but there are others who have been prudent, and in times like these they may be the ones who’ll take the opportunity to look for value investments, which Iskandar is offering,” said Pias.

According to him, feedback from IRDA partners present at Cityscape Abu Dhabi indicated good response from visitors.

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