Second theme park, after Legoland, is coming up in Iskandar Malaysia

Second theme park for Iskandar Malaysia

Monday October 19, 2009    By ZAZALI MUSA

GELANG PATAH: A second theme park, after Legoland, is coming up in Iskandar Malaysia.

It will be a 5,574 square metre indoor park meant to delight children below 12-years-old, said Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.
He said the park would be in Puteri Harbour, a waterfront, mixed development project in Nusajaya.

It will be a joint-venture betweeen UEM Land Holdings Bhd and a foreign investor.

“Work will probably take place next year,” Ghani said at a Hari Raya open house organised by Taman Nusantara developer, Denia Development Sdn Bhd.

Ghani declined to divulge the investment cost or who the foreign investor was. The Star, however, learnt that the investor was WalMart Group, a US-based conglomerate.

Ghani said the theme park would have both fun games and educational activities.

contact Iskandar Malaysia Property Agent

With both the theme parks in Iskandar targeting children, a third was being considered for young adults.

“Iskandar needs to have several theme parks to cater for different target groups,” said Ghani.

Replying to a question as to whether the Causeway should be demolished to make way for a new bridge, as proposed by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Ghani said he would let Najib decide on the matter.

Lately, the former premier had reiterated that Malaysia should proceed with the scenic bridge to replace the Causeway, built in 1928, if the Federal Government wanted Iskandar Malaysia to succeed.

Tax Incentive for Knowledge Workers in Iskandar Malaysia, proposed in Budget 2010

Malaysia or foreign knowledge workers are critical to further boost development of Iskandar Malaysia especially those who add value in the activities they undertake.

To attract local and foreign talent as well as intensify the development of Iskandar Malaysia, the Government proposes an innovative and radical tax incentive. The Government proposes income tax on employment income of Malaysians and foreign knowledge workers residing and working in Iskandar Malaysia be imposed at a rate of 15% compared with the maximum rate of 26% for the rest of the country. The qualifying activities are tourism, logistics services, financial advisory and consulting services, creative industries, healthcare services, educational services, biotechnology and green technology.

The incentive is for knowledge workers who apply and commence employment in Iskandar Malaysia between 24 October 2009 and 31 December 2015.

Nusajaya SiLC Industrial Park

Nusajaya SiLC, Iskandar Malaysia

SiLC represents a step forward in industrial zone planning and under Iskandar Malaysia development region. It is the flagship industrial development project of Nusajaya set in a secure, green and clean environment for its industrial clusters.

Developed to enrich your investment and enhance your business, SiLC Nusajaya – The Southern Industrial & Logistics Clusters – is envisioned to be a world-class managed; clean and green industrial park designed and planned to meet the current demand for environmentally sustainable development.

A flagship industrial development with a cluster-based approach, it features advanced, innovation-driven industries augmenting the value-chains of integrated ‘clean’ industrial clusters in three major areas – advanced technology, health & nutrition and logistics.

Its world-class infrastructure designed to support 21st century industries is further enhanced by the availability of housing in Nusajaya that caters to the various levels of income brackets. Educational, medical and recreational facilities are easily accessible to enhance and enrich the lives of those who work and live here.

contact Iskandar Malaysia Property Agent

Location

SiLC Nusajaya is strategically located in the center of the emerging Asian economies and is within a 6 hour flight radius of the major Asian cities and markets. It is ideally located in the centre of the Asian consumer market of more than 3 billion people, bringing you closer to your new growth markets.

The only managed industrial park in the regional city of Nusajaya – the largest integrated development in Southeast Asia and the key driver of the Iskandar Malaysia Development Region, SiLC Nusajaya is only 15 minutes from Singapore and 30 minutes from the Singapore Central Business District (CBD).

The 13 residential precincts of Horizon Hills, Iskandar Malaysia

Horizon Hills, Iskandar Malaysia

Horizon Hills is a gated and guarded development ranging across 1,200 acres of freehold land. A self-contained township set in a lush green, gated environment. It combines the best in architectural innovation, master planning and landscape design. There are 13 different residential precincts, each unique in its own natural settings and features

The precincts are:

• The Gateway

  Greeting you as you enter Horizon Hills is The Gateway. With lush greens of the woodlands in the North and extensive views of the fairways in the South, this without a doubt, the grand entry statement of the township.

• The Golf

  Enveloped within the designer fairways and greens, crafted on a preserved luxuriant landscape, The Golf is a much admired and commendable precinct.

• The Hills

  Located at the heart of Horizon Hills, The Hills precinct offers designer split level homes on an elevated terrain separated by interconnecting gully parks. Picture perfect sunsets complement the breathtaking scenery from The Hills.

• The Green & The Woodlands

  The Greens & The Woodlands’ luxurious homes are enveloped within lush parks facing the verdant greens of the woodlands and the vast views of the fairways.

• The Peak

  An enclave of grand bungalow homes, this low-density precinct suits the distingushed. With a forest bordering the precinct and perched on higher ground, The peak offers the best in exclusiveness and ultimate privacy.

• The Cove & The Island

  Surrounded by clear bodies of shimmering water creating a tranquil lakeside living by the water’s edge at The Island & The Cove.

• The Waterfall

  Come home accompanied by nature alonga meandering road tucked under a lavish canopy of trees. The waterfall is complete with a raised lake on the elevated terrain.

• The Valley

  Placed against a lush backdrop of the woodlands and golf greens, the gentle slopes of the Valley is set in contemporary designs that complement the modern lifestyles you desire.

• The Wetlands

  Situated at the Southern part of Horizon Hills, this private enclave features the signature residential wetlands where the residents share their space with a diverse variety of wetlands flora and fauna.

• The Heart

  The jewel of the township – The Heart is the pulse of Horizon Hills. Complete with the signature clubhouse, facilities and recreational amentities, this is the perfect place for soy gatherings or just to relax and unwind.

• Expat Village

  Strategically located adjacent to Horizon Hills Golf & Country Club, this exclusive precinct is crafted to take advantage of the surrounding golf course with more than 270 degree of panoramic fairway view. Security is ensured with a dedicated entrance for residents to this enclave.

• The Canal

  Canal waterways entwined into the township running alongside the East edge fashioning a serene and natural peacefulness that you deserve.

contact Iskandar Malaysia Property Agent

Horizon Hills Real Estate

Horizon Hills, Iskandar Malaysia

Situated in the thriving Iskandar Malaysia is Horizon Hills, a 1,200 acre integrated residential township, with gross development value of RM3.1 billion is a low-density development spread over 13 residential precincts. Horizon Hills is a lush gated development complete with a private 18-hole Par 72 designer golf course. A strategic joint venture development between Gamuda Land and UEM Land, Horizon Hills raises the benchmark for property development in Johor.

contact Iskandar Malaysia Property Agent

Horizon Hills is a paradise of luxury golf residences. A fantasy home with views to dream of that gives you an opportunity to walk straight out on to the fairways. Set on natural undulating hilly terrain, life here is a breeze of fresh air with stunning vistas of the golf course, waterways, forest reserves and thematic parks from your home, bringing the outdoors to the indoors. One with nature, a healthy and relaxing lifestyle amidst peaceful serenity is second to none here.

Regarded as one of the best golf course residential properties in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Horizon Hills takes full advantage of its incomparable location being set in the booming Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia and just a mere 30 minutes drive to Singapore.

Iskandar Malaysia’s EduCity in Nusajaya as the leading knowledge hub in the region

Iskandar Malaysia's EduCity in Nusajaya

EduCity at Nusajaya is positioned to be a regional education hub and a destination for quality world-class education within a 6-hour flight radius of major Asian cities.

The 600 acres education enclave is envisioned as “A Community of Best Practices in Academia” and is adopting the best-of-breed approach in bringing world-class education to Malaysia. It is aligned with the Ninth Malaysia Plan objective to promote Malaysia as a centre of educational excellence. It is conceptualized to be an academic hub comprising the whole ecology of education; encompassing pre-school, primary, lower secondary, upper secondary, pre-university and tertiary education with a view towards bringing world-class education to Malaysia.

EduCity will be a fully integrated knowledge-based hub comprising world class universities, knowledge-based industry leaders, industry centric R & D clusters, Academia-industry action center, international schools & colleges, living & recreational facilities and conference & exhibition amenities of world standing.

Related News:

EduCity to be top of the class

Monday September 14, 2009
By ZAZALI MUSA

JOHOR BARU: Iskandar Investment Bhd (IIB) wants to position Iskandar Malaysia’s EduCity in Nusajaya as the leading knowledge hub in the region.
Senior vice-president (education & healthcare) Khairil Anwar Ahmad said EduCity would be developed into a unique destination offering quality but affordable higher education for locals and foreigners.

“EduCity will be developed into an educational hub with the best in class faculties from reputable universities in the world,” he told StarBiz recently.

Instead of just one university with eight faculties, EduCity would have eight universities with one specialised faculty each.
The 21.4ha EduCity will be developed in two phases under a 10-year plan (2008-2018). Work on Phase One on 49.12ha has already started and is expected to be operational in 2013 with four universities and 4,000 students.

Under Phase Two, another four foreign universities are expected to set up their branch campuses and these will double the student enrolment.
Britain’s Newcastle University Medicine (NUMed) is the first foreign university to set up its branch campus in Iskandar Malaysia, which is also the university’s first international branch campus.

In a media briefing in May, NUMed Malaysia Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Professor Reginald Jordan said its Johor campus would be the main catalyst to promote the state as the preferred destination for medical studies.

Construction work on its RM300mil campus on a 5.26ha site has started in Nusajaya; one of the five flagship development zones in Iskandar and is scheduled for completion in May 2011.

The university will offer 40 places in its initial intake and has so far received over 200 enquires from Malaysia, Egypt, India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Europe and the United States.

The first two NUMed Malaysia intakes of 40 students each will undertake the first two years of the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) programmes in Newcastle.

They will return to Malaysia to complete the remaining three years in Johor. Subsequently, from 2011, all five years of the MBBS programme will be delivered at the Nusajaya campus.

Khairil said NUMed professors would be at the Johor campus and deliver the curriculum on a stand-alone basis without any collaboration with other universities.

He said the medical degree would have the name of Newcastle University United Kingdom and the degree recognised by the British Medical Council (BMC).

“It is very significant in the medical fraternity as BMC has never recognised any British medical schools outside Britian,’’ said Khairil.
Established in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1834, the university’s School of Medicine and Surgery is currently ranked fourth in the Times Good University Guide 2009.

About 700 doctors practising in Kuala Lumpur and 7,000 others in the region are graduates of the university.

Billboards adorn the fencing at the EduCity project site in Nusajaya, Iskandar Malaysia which covers an area of 121.40ha
Khairil said it was cheaper for Malaysians to pursue medicine at NUMed in Nusajaya than in Britain.

Khairil said it cost Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) RM1.2mil to send one student to study medicine at NUMed in Britain. For that amount of money, MARA could sponsor two students in Nusajaya.

He said IIB was focusing on certain universities to open their faculties in EduCity with disciplines that could relate with the Iskandar Malaysia’s Comprehensive Development Plan from 2006 until 2025.
As such, IIB was now talking with several public universities from Australia and Europe interested to open their branch campuses offering hospitality, engineering and marine and logistics-related studies, he said.

He said for the second phase, IIB would be looking at language courses, fine arts and multimedia disciplines to provide support for the creative industry which was one of the new economic pillars in Iskandar.

On a move to attract one of the top China and Hong Kong universities to Iskandar, Khairil said IIB did not have any direct contact with them at the moment but if they were to come to Iskandar, IIB would encourage them to set up their branch campuses in EduCity.

He said unlike commercial investors, universities took a much longer time to come and open branch campuses. While they were here not to make money, they could not lose it.

Khairil said the most important issue for public universities was the market demand in terms of student enrolment and whether the revenue would be able to cover the operational cost.

On the other hand, commercial investors considered several aspects such as return on investment, various risk elements and business opportunities.

“When foreign universities want to open their campuses here, we help them as much as we can to provide the data and the information they need to prepare a solid business plan,” said Khairil.
He said when universities decide to come, they would be here for the long term and the most important thing was to protect their brand name.

source:  http://www.nusajayacity.com

Iskandar Malaysia Open Day at Persada Johor

• Event : Iskandar Malaysia Open Day
• Venue : Persada Johor
• Date:
  • 11 October 2009 (Sunday) 9am – 9pm
  • 12 October 2009 (Monday) 9am – 1pm
• Organiser: Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA)

A Vision for All

This theme conveys that Iskandar Malaysia vision “A strong sustainable metropolis of international standing” is a vision that ca be shared by all the peoploe who live, work and play in Iskandar Malaysia and that the benefits accured from the success of this emerging zone will be enjoyed by everyone.

The Iskandar Malaysia Open Day aims to:

• Showcase the latest developments in Iskandar Malaysia by its various partners and players.
• Share the development plans and initiatives in Iskandar Malaysia
• Increase public participation in Iskandar Malaysia

Find out about:

• The blueprints for Iskandar Malaysia and what’s in store for the future
• New physical infrastructure being developed for the public
• New jobs and Business Opportunities from Iskandar Malaysia’s 9 ecoomic clusters
• High Speed broadband Internet from TMNet
• New developments and recreational facilities in and around Iskandar Malaysia
• Iskandar Malaysia Integrated Planning Roadshow

From: Sun, 2009-10-11 – Mon, 2009-10-12

Legoland Theme Park coming to Iskandar Malaysia

JOHOR BAHRU: Work on the first Legoland theme park in Asia is expected to start here next year.

Legoland Deutschland in Germany

Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) will sign a deal tomorrow with the Lego Group, the Danish manufacturer of interlocking plastic bricks, to develop the theme park in Nusajaya.

The theme park, an integral component of Iskandar Malaysia, will be Lego Group’s fifth after Billund in Denmark, Windsor in the United Kingdom, Carlsbad, California, in the United States and Günzburg in Germany.

The skyline of Iskandar is set to change once the 200ha project, with an initial investment of RM800 million, is completed.

Legoland will be one of the three theme parks to be built in Nusajaya.

Sources said IIB was negotiating with other global theme park players to set up operations in this economic region in southern Johor.

They are Universal Studios and Disneyland.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi will witness the signing of the deal between Lego and IIB.

Legoland theme parks are built from Lego’s interlocking plastic bricks of different colours to create mini structures such as buildings and vehicles, among others.

The name Lego is an abbreviation of the two Danish words – leg godt, meaning “play well”.

It was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1932. The Denmark-based company has passed from father to son and is now owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandson of the founder.

Lego is a global enterprise and the world’s sixth largest manufacturer of toys.

IIB, the investment arm of Iskandar, will be the local partner in the project.

At the Cityscape property exhibition in Dubai in October, IIB managing director Arlida Ariff had been reported as saying that three theme parks were being considered in Iskandar.

“We have learnt from the Disneyland Hong Kong’s experience, which is operating with insufficient visitors and revenue. It is better and more appealing to operate a cluster of theme parks.”

“If Iskandar has only one theme park, visitors from Singapore may return to the republic the same day.”

“We want them to stay at least one or two nights so that there would be multiplier effects on the economy.” The plan at Nusajaya is to have a core theme park and a few smaller theme parks. About 1,200ha have been set aside for theme parks, including supporting commercial developments.

Other supporting sports and recreation to be built are golf courses and eco-tourism facilities.

Source: NST (12/12/2008)

Johor property developers to gain from Iskandar Malaysia

The growth corridor will help sustain the property market in the state

Wednesday April 15, 2009, By ZAZALI MUSA

JOHOR BARU: Property developers in Johor stand to benefit in the long run from the development of Iskandar Malaysia, said Real Estate and Housing Developers Association (Rehda) Johor branch chairman Lee Kim Chai.

Lee said under the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 2006-2025, Iskandar Malaysia would be transformed into a metropolis of international stature, thereby ensuring the sustainability of the property market in the state, especially in southern Johor.

“The Federal Government is putting in a lot of emphasis and effort on Iskandar to make it successful,” he said in an interview with StarBiz, adding that several projects by both public and private sectors were already taking shape in Iskandar Malaysia, while some others were being implemented.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the Government allocated some RM6.83bil for infrastructure projects in Iskandar Malaysia including road building, drainage and river cleaning projects.

Iskandar Malaysia also received a RM1.7bil boost under the recent RM60bil mini budget for the development of infrastructure, hotels, theme parks as well as universities.

“Improvement in road connectivity and travel time are the two main factors that will help attract potential house buyers,” Lee said.

He added that the upcoming Malaysia Property Expo for Johor (Mapex 2009–Johor) was the best platform for developers to market their products amid the economic slowdown.

Mapex 2009-Johor will be held from tomorrow till Sunday at the Johor Baru City Square with 31 developers taking part.

“There are over 8,000 residential and commercial properties worth RM2.7bil in the offing and buyers should take advantage to shop around before deciding to sign on the dotted line,” Lee said.

The last property expo in Johor in November managed to record RM100mil in sales and Rehda Johor was hoping to record a similar figure for the upcoming event, he added.

Iskandar Malaysia, launched on Nov 4, 2006, was the first in a series of economic growth corridors started in the country under former prime minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

The other growth corridors are the Northern Corridor Economic Region, East Coast Economic Region, Sabah Development Corridor and Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy.

Located in the southern-most part of Johor, Iskandar Malaysia spans over 2,217 sq km covering Johor Baru, Senai-Kulai, Gelang Patah-Pontian and Pasir Gudang-Tanjung Langsat.

About Iskandar Malaysia

Iskandar Malaysia (IM), is a strategic and important special economic zone located at the southern-most tip of Peninsular Malaysia and mainland Asia. South Johor is a geographically and economically important region with key industrial, logistics and commercial centres. IM will benefit from the economic opportunities that will be promoted within the Region.

Identified as one of the key catalysts and high-impact developments under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) the IM will be developed into a major regional commercial hub with first-world facilities. These facilities will encompass logistics and a comprehensive value-added platform with focus on state-of-the-art physical infrastructure and an investment-friendly business environment. Development of the IM offers a meaningful opportunity for the Malaysian Government, working in tandem with the private sector, to drive reforms and innovation in delivery systems, local government, physical planning, infrastructure development and environmental protection among others.

The Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) 2006-2025 for Iskandar Malaysia, launched by the Malaysian Prime Minister on November 4th 2006, details the entire development agenda envisioned for the Region. The CDP identified Nusajaya as one of the pivotal and significant catalyst developments to spearhead and boost IM’s development. The Malaysian government’s support to ensure Nusajaya’s success is assured. Approximately USD 1.23 billion (RM2 billion) out of the USD 1.22 billion (RM4.3 billion) or 47% of the approved IM infrastructure projects under the Plan that will benefit Nusajaya encompass development/upgrading of highways, roads, airport, drainage and security.

source:  http://www.nusajayacity.com