GEORGE TOWN: The Middle East luxury yacht builder Gulf Craft is looking at Southeast Asian markets – including Malaysia – as a source for increased revenue.

The company’s chief operating officer (COO) Erwin Bamps did not discount the possibility of considering Penang as a potential hub for a shipyard in the region, if the demand for its leisure craft is good.

“Asia currently contributes about 20 per cent of our annual revenue and we are looking at a possible 10 per cent increase in the next one to two years,” he told Business Times over the weekend.

Gulf Craft, whose marketing presence in Malaysia for the past two decades is via Penang-based Pen-Marine Sdn Bhd, has sold a total of 150 of its leisure boats here to date.

The company, which is synony-mous with yachts like the “Majesty”, “Onyx” and “Silvercraft” is bullish about Southeast Asia’s huge potential for yachting.

“We are not only seeing a new generation of dynamic and wealthy business people looking for quality lifestyles,” Bamps said, “but the entire area is now gradually opening up for marine tourism as it becomes more and more feasible and attractive for an owner to keep and cruise a luxury yacht in Southeast Asia.”

Singling out Penang for its emerging waterfront property development, Bamps said the state would do well to promote a nautical lifestyle to yacht owners.

“Penang definitely has the potential as an international hub for yacht owners as if the proper steps are taken to put yachting on the tourism agenda, the spin-offs to sectors ranging from property, food and beverage, and a host of services will be manifold,” he noted.

Bamps said he met with the Singapore Tourism Board officials recently, as Singapore is looking to attract a different quality of international spenders to the island republic.

Meanwhile, Pen-Marine’s managing director Oh Kean Shen said Malaysia can assist the yachting sector by ensuring that there are adequate and well-equipped ma-rinas dotting the country.

Malaysia is currently home to an estimated 1,500 leisure boats.

Oh also stressed on the need for financing facilities to be made available to yacht investors, given the fact that Malaysia does not impose duty on pleasure yachts.

“Owing to Langkawi’s position as a duty-free island,” he said, “many boats from Singapore and Phuket are registered with the Langkawi International Yacht Registry (LIYR),” he said.

LIYR is an exclusive international yacht registry operated by the director-general of Marine Malaysia.

It is designed for yacht owners who are seeking to operate under the advantages of an open registry, and there are no restrictions on ownership and is open to individuals, joint owners, corporations and yachting entities.

SOURCE: Business Times

Pearl Villas, an exclusive gated community is developing to be a growing township and a completely self-contained project which will be supported by well- planned infrastructures, comprehensive learning institutions from colleges to primary and secondary schools, supermarkets, shoplots and other essential community facilities.

The project comprises 152 terrace houses, 164 semi-detached houses and 19 bungalows.

Property Project : Pearl Villas
Location : Simpang Ampat, Penang
Property Type : 2-Storey Terrace & Semi-D
Tenure : Freehold
Developer : Tambun Indah
Indicative Price: RM 318,000 onwards

Tropicale Residency is a gated residential development located at Alma, the new heartbeat of Bukit Mertajam, with easy access to Jalan Rozlan and Jalan Kulim.

Tropicale Residency is designed with a luxurious lifestyle in 3’G’ neighbourhood; a conceptual and comprehensive development that encompass an area of 45 acres, spreading throughout undulating hilly terrains, aims to be the benchmark for properties in Bukit Mertajam. This lush development is to be constructed attuning to the contour, providing a tranquility lifestyle experience.

Property Project : Tropicale Residency
Location : Alma, Bukit Mertajam, Penang
Property Type : 2-Storey Terrace & Bungalow
Tenure : Freehold
Developer : GTM Group
Contact No: 04-552 2199
Indicative Price: RM 358,000 onwards

PETALING JAYA: Bank Negara raised the overnight policy rate (OPR) by 25 basis points to 3% and increased the statutory reserve requirement (SRR) by 1 percentage point to 3%, a move that took most by surprise.

The OPR, the benchmark interest rate commercial banks use to calculate their base lending rates for loans, was last raised in July last year.

The central bank hiked the SRR by 100 basis points to 3% effective May 16 as a pre-emptive measure following the build-up of liquidity in the financial system.

“With the economy firmly on a steady growth path, the monetary policy committee decided to adjust the degree of monetary accommodation,” said the central bank in a statement yesterday.

“At the current OPR level, the stance of monetary policy remains supportive of growth. The future stance of monetary policy will depend on the assessment of the risk to growth and inflation prospects.”

Bank Negara acknowledged inflation, which has increased globally on account of higher energy and food prices, has inched up too in Malaysia and has now hit 3% in March to average 2.8% for the first quarter of 2011.

“Global commodity and energy prices are projected to remain elevated during the year, with inflation in major trading partners also expected to rise further. There are also some signs that domestic demand factors could exert upward pressure on prices in the second half of the year,” the central bank said.

However, it noted that despite higher inflationary pressure, latest indicators pointed towards continued strengthening of private investment and sustained private consumption expenditure in the first quarter.

“Growth will be underpinned by the firm expansion of domestic demand. Sustained employment conditions and income growth is expected to provide support to private consumption, while private investment is projected to strengthen amid the improved investment environment,” it added.

In a separate statement, the central bank said the decision to raise the SRR was undertaken as a pre-emptive measure to manage the significant build-up of liquidity, which could result in financial imbalances and create risks to financial stability.

Economists, who were divided over whether the OPR would be raised, told StarBiz that the central bank was sending out a message that inflation was now the concern instead of growth.

AmResearch Sdn Bhd senior economist Manokaran Mottain said policymakers were sending out the message that they were vigilant.

“They’re acknowledging that inflation is putting pressure on the economy,” he said, adding that market consensus was for the OPR to remain unchanged with a Bloomberg survey showing that seven out of 16 economists expected the hike, with the rest expecting the OPR to remain the same.

Nevertheless, economists agreed with the central bank that the rate hikes were still supportive of growth with domestic demand now the focus.

CIMB Investment Bank Bhd head of economics Lee Heng Guie said there was likely to be another 25-basis point hike in the OPR in July but this, judging from the language of the Monetary Policy Committee statement, “will depend on risks to growth and inflationary prospects”.

Meanwhile Affin Investment Bank Bhd economist Alan Tan said the decision to raise the OPR was “a close call” as a lot of brokers expected interest rates to remain unchanged due to the strengthening ringgit.

“Going forward, the central bank is signalling that rising inflation will be of concern and that growth will come from domestic demand as external demand weakens,” he said.

Tan expects another 25-basis point hike before year-end as the central bank moved in tandem with regional peers in normalising interest rates and managing capital flows.

“The normalisation of the rates is important because the US Federal Reserve has indicated that there may be a hike in rates next year and if policymakers here keep rates low for a prolonged period, there’s a risk of a capital outflow,” he said.

For Bank Negara statements click here

Source: The Star

A PKR assemblyman, who is in the dark about a major reclamation project in his constituency, has asked the state government to brief the relevant assemblymen on the matter.

Sim Tze Tzin (PKR ? Pantai Jerejak) claimed that some 40.4ha in front of the Queensbay Mall coastline would be reclaimed by Boustead Holdings Bhd under an agreement with the state government.

?From what I understand, the state government approved the reclamation as compensation to the developer for having to scale down its project in the Unesco world heritage site.

?To date I have not received any information on this. I hope the state government can brief the relevant assemblymen on such a big and important project,? he said at the Penang state assembly in George Town yesterday.

He said the reclamation could cause serious environmental impact to nearby areas like Pantai Jerejak and Batu Maung.

?Furthermore, Pulau Jerejak is the crown jewel for the state and should be developed as a tourism attraction like Singapore?s Sentosa Island ? land on the Queensbay Mall coastline is needed for this purpose,? he said calling for an environmental impact assessment to be conducted.

In January, an English daily quoted sources as saying that Boustead and the Penang government had concluded negotiations on the compensation for the property developer to scale down its RM100 million hotel project in the heritage city.

The purported agreement would see Boustead scaling down the height of its original 12 floors to five to comly with Unesco requirements. In return, it would be allowed to reclaim land on the Bayan Lepas coastline.

SOURCE: The Star