Malaysia will create a “special financial zone” in embattled Chinese developer Country Garden’s 2007.HK US$100 billion (RM465.05 billion) project in Johor and offer incentives to attract investments, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
The massive Forest City project is being built across four reclaimed islands in Johor and aims to house 700,000 people by 2035. It will include office towers, malls and schools in addition to residential buildings.
The planned incentives for Forest City come at a time when Country Garden is facing deep financial woes.
Forest City is its largest overseas development, and is a joint venture with Esplanade Danga 88, a private Malaysian company backed by the Johor government and Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar.
New incentives to be offered at Forest City include a special income tax rate of 15% for skilled workers and multiple entry visas, Anwar said in a statement on Friday.
Country Garden did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on the government’s plan.
The special financial zone — to be implemented soon — will lower costs of doing business in Forest City, Bernama quoted Anwar as saying.
Country Garden, China’s largest private developer, earlier this month missed two dollar coupon payments totaling US$22.5 million, raising fears Beijing’s property debt crisis will hamper the financial sector and a broader economic recovery.
