INTERVIEW
QWhat is the ASEAN Real Estate Network Alliance( ARENA)?
In January 1st, 2015, our Honourable Prime Minister, together with the ASEAN Ministeriate, established an initiative called AEC or ASEAN Economic Community which is a one platform for ASEAN products and services. It is a government initiative, but as a private initiative, we, along with other ASEAN countries have leveraged on this by forming our own, which is what we call the ASEAN Real Estate Network Alliance or ARENA. In our inaugural ASEAN Convention and Expo in Bangkok in August last year, eight out of ten ASEAN countries signed a MoU.
This is very important to Malaysia because this initiative is a good opportunity for us to do inbound and outbound trading in real estate within ASEAN.
This expo is an annual event, and this year, Malaysia is proudly the next host country, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur in August.
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Now the concept of ARENA is to have a regional understanding among the ASEAN countries. For example, if countries like Singapore or Thailand want to have a real estate transaction or business in Malaysia, then MIEA will be the window for them to get through, and the same happens when we want to do businesses in their countries. This is clearly an advantage for MIEA members to expand their business across the border within ASEAN.
Besides the convention, the exhibition will be a bridge for ASEAN to cross borders. It is a strong platform that will allow Malaysian developers to showcase their projects to real estate agents and gain exposure from neighbouring countries.
Q
And what does MIEA hope to achieve from this?
We want to further enhance the opportunities available to cross borders. However, ARENA isn’ t the only initiative that we’ re doing as far as crossing borders are concerned. We also participate in a global platform called
IRC or International Realtors Conference which focuses on the Asia-Pacific Region. This one was initiated by the National Association of Realtors in the US and they have a membership of 1.2 million in 60 countries worldwide. Now, this platform allows us to connect on a more global scale. With these initiatives in place, I hope that they will attract the younger Gen X and Gen Ys of Malaysia to be more
interested in the agency line.
Q
What else can we expect from MIEA for 2017?
As we all know, it has been a very challenging time. Currently, we’ re facing a‘ buyers’ market’ condition and we’ re looking into more initiatives like these so that our members will have more opportunities. Right now, we’ ve got MAREC, the Malaysian Annual Real Estate Convention, which will be held on the 3rd and 4th of March. It will be an event for all the estate practitioners to recharge, keep themselves updated and to socialise. On top of that, there will also be a continuous profession development points, where they can use to renew their licences.