Property Hunter Magazine Property Hunter Magazine Issue 52 - March 2014 | Page 109

BUDGET 2014: A Game Changer for Property Market! ICBC Banking on Expansion Mode Within East Malaysia The world’s largest bank by market capitalisation and deposits, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), sees its first operation here as a gateway to further expand throughout the state and into Sabah. The turnout crowd during the property outlook conference The most awaited conference, Property Outlook Conference 2014 organized by Wealth Mastery Academy (WMA) finally made its debut once again, at Hotel Istana Kuala Lumpur on 11& 12 January 2014. This conference presents 13 uplifting, distinguished and experienced speakers who will provide the tips and tricks of Property Investment that you must know this year as well as the next few years to come. As we all knew from the BUDGET 2014, there are few measurements that the Government already implemented starting from 1 January 2014. This has caused many investors to rethink on their investment strategies; what are the strategies to apply next? Many would have stepped back from their initial investing plan due to the changes that occurred in the property market. Therefore, Property Outlook Conference 2014 main objective is to act as an educational hub for those who seek advises and tricks to survive in this volatile year and to guide property investors to absorb and practice the effective property investment strategies. According to Dato’ Terry Ong, Chief Executive Officer of Wealth Mastery Academy, “Property Outlook Conference 2014 is a platform where investors and brand new investors can obtain information that they need to kick start their investment. The reason why we have it in the beginning of the year is to provide the sufficient information about the property market for the first half of the year. The conference took off with the token of appreciation which was given to all the partners that supported this conference throughout. This conference consist of speakers like Veena Loh,General Manager of Malaysia Property Incorporated; Dato’George Stewart Labrooy, Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director Axis REIT Managers Berhad; Elvin Fernandez, Managing Director of the Khong & Jaafar Group of Companies in Malaysia; Vincent Wong, Best-Selling Author and Lease Option Mentor; KK Wong, CEO of Dynasty View Sdn Bhd and UMLand Berhad; Dato Soo Kai Chee, Executive Director, Finance & Marketing Division of MCT Group and Yap Shin Siang Partner of YYC Advisors who spoke on the Property Outlook Conference stage on Saturday. Whereas, the remaining speakers such as Siva Shanker, President of Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents; Dato Sri Dr Vincent Tiew, Executive Director of Andaman Group; Milan Doshi, Property Guru & Best Selling Author; Prudence Wong, Property Entrepreneur; Renesial Leong, Asia’s Queen of Property and last but not the least is Dr Daniele Gambero, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of REI Group of Companies delivered their insights on Sunday. Speaking at the launch of ICBC’s East Malaysia regional branch here, deputy chief executive officer Xie Shaoxiong said the establishment of the bank here would further enhance the economic and trade ties between Malaysia and China. Sarawak economic stability is one of the main reason that attracted ICBC to setup its East Malaysian regional branch here in Kuching that will oversee the Sarawak and Sabah operations, said Xie. It is also very important for the upcoming generations to have a better understanding on the property market and what are the available investment opportunities that best suit their portfolio before implementing their plans. This will help them to escape the risk of bad investment which will take quite a timeframe to recover from it. He foresaw Sarawak to be the next economic development centre in Malaysia by 2020 and remained confident the economic boom here would give the group a vast opportunity within the financing cycle. Many from our past conference participants and group of investors had come again to update their knowledge in property market; market trend for the next 3 to 5 years, where and what are the latest hotspots, 10 CPD hours for Valuers and 15 CPD hours property agents will be provided to those who registered themselves at our counter. Moreover, they too brought in their friends and family to the conference as they too wanted them to be exposed to the property investment industry. “With support from the Chinese and Malaysian governments, we believe we will be able to deliver much more to the community here, by providing and facilitate the trade in terms of renminbi,” Xie noted. Once again Property Outlook Conference 2014 hits the record of full house with more than 1600 participants. The quality of the conference has once again proven through the overwhelming support that it had received this year. We will be back next year with even greater platform for a greater learning! Sabah and management has visited several areas over the past few months. They are now doing their planning and arrangement,” said one of its senior management staff. “ICBC Kuching branch will be the regional centre overseeing the Sarawak and Sabah operations, while providing training for the new recruitment.” Since the establishment of ICBC Malaysia in 2010, the group reported steady growth over the past three years with products, services, loans and deposits all improved positively. As at end-2012, ICBC Malaysia’s total assets exceeded RM3 billion while deposits and profits stood at RM800 million and RM20 million, respectively. ICBC Malaysia further complements the group operations network covering Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, South Korea, the Middle East and Central Asia, making ICBC one of the few b