1. CEO Series – Malaysia’s Economic Recovery & Outlook for 2022 and Rebuilding Malaysia’s Economy
International economist Tan Sri Dato’ Dr. Lin See-Yan (former Deputy Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Harvard trained economist) and Mr. Lee Heng Guie a respectable economist and Executive Director of the Socio-Economic Research Centre (SERC) shared their views on Malaysia’s Economic Outlook and Sectoral Recovery for 2022 in the REHDA Institute CEO series (Annual Property Developers’ Conference).
In a morning panel discussion titled “Charting Malaysia’s Recovery: how can industry stakeholders work together to rebuild Malaysia’s economy” moderated by REHDA Institute Chairman Dato’ Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip, panel member Datuk Ir. Ho Hon Sang (commenting as Vice President of REHDA Malaysia) highlighted that to encourage homeownership, the financing for homebuyers is an important component. Datuk Ho commented that to revive the property sector, the Home Ownership Campaign as a government-supported initiative should continue to be extended to encourage the sales of unsold properties.
Mr. Oliver Wee, the Deputy President of Master Builders Association of Malaysia (MBAM) highlights that the construction and property development sector is a significant contributor to the economy. However, there are currently pressing challenges such as shortage of skilled labour and rising cost of building material prices, hence more initiative can be taken by the government to impose lesser taxes (such as import duty, raw material) to harmonise the standard price of material.
2. REHDA Institute & Monash University signs MOU on Research and Education initiatives – will thereafter launch a national campaign on Digital Marketing Transformation Initiative (DMTI) for property developers together with PropertyGuru Datasense.
On the sidelines of the CEO Series 2022, REHDA Institute also signed a collaborative Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Monash University (ranked as a top 58 University in the QS World University Rankings 2022), where Monash was represented by Professor Andrew Walker (President & Pro-Vice Chancellor of Monash University Malaysia) and Mr Ridzuan Repin (Associate Director of External Affairs Monash University Malaysia) whilst REHDA Institute was represented by Dato’ Jeffrey Ng Tiong Lip (Chairman of REHDA Institute) and Tan Sri Dato’ Teo Chiang Kok (Trustee of REHDA Institute).
The MOU is the first step towards a host of industry-university collaboration between the two organisations in the area of research and education. One such initiative already on the drawing board will be the “Digital Marketing Transformation Initiative – DMTI”.
Based on market intelligence gathered by REHDA Institute Industry Marketing Analytics Unit from more than 180 property development companies in Malaysia in November 2021, 95% of respondents believed that investing in digital marketing initiatives is a key driver impacting their success of marketing and sales activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 46% of respondents indicated that lack of specialist marketing manpower and the high complexity of digital marketing as a key barrier to a higher adoption of digital marketing in their companies.
REHDA Institute together with Monash University Malaysia and other specialist partners such as PropertyGuru’s Data Sense (PropertyGuru Group is one of Southeast Asia’s largest property technology company), will launch a national campaign to elevate and transform the digital marketing capabilities of the property development sector in Malaysia, through a 7 days certification program titled “Digital Marketing Transformation Initiative – DMTI” in April and May 2022.
3. REHDA Institute’s report on “Housing Forward – Understanding Costs and Sustainable Prices”
REHDA Institute has been working on several research projects on topics of interest to the industry since 2018. Aimed at providing industry insights into some of the key issues and challenges facing the housing and property industry, such reports propose transformational recommendations that may help improve the country’s housing delivery system, benefitting all industry stakeholders, authorities, and house buyers.
Some of the Institute’s past research reports include: –
(i) Strata Management Handbook
(ii) Affordable Housing – The Game Plan Transformation
(iii) IBS – Making It Work for the Industry (a collaboration with the Construction Research Institute of Malaysia, CREAM)
(iv) Cost of Doing Business and Its Impact on Property Development (another collaboration with the Construction Research Institute of Malaysia, CREAM)
The Institute is also currently working on two new projects involving Property Development Policy and Quota Housing Policy, both of which are expected to complete in 2022.
The Institute shares a preview of its latest research report – “Housing Forward: Understanding Costs and Sustainable Prices” at the CEO Series 2022. Scheduled to be officially released at the Institute’s upcoming Regional Housing Conference on 24 March 2022, the report identifies 4 key issues contributing to increased costs including:
o Over-regulation adding to costs but not necessarily the value of houses
o Overzealous planning requirements which reduces sellable land
o Cross subsidies causing price distortion; and
o Lengthy approval processes – unproductive, holding costs and uncertainties
“Housing Forward – Understanding Costs and Sustainable Prices” will be officially launched and released during the REHDA Institute Regional Housing Conference on 24 March 2022. Pre-orders for the report can be made via the Institute’s website www.rehdainstitute.com now.
4. Regional Housing Conference, March 24
The Regional Housing Conference 2022 will be hosted by Malaysia at Sunway Resort Hotel on 24 March 2022 with international speakers from around the region. Themed “Fast Forward – The Future of Housing” the conference will feature interesting and relevant housing topics including high cost of doing business.
Some of the focus include the area of (i) sustainability in optimising land usage and (ii) improving the efficiency in development approval processes (shared experiences from speakers from Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore and Malaysia).
