Hong Leong to spend Rm40mil on innovation exchange
KUALA LUMPUR: Conglomerate Hong Leong Group, via its property arm Guocoland (Malaysia) Bhd, will invest Rm40mil to develop a 32-storey tower that houses co-working spaces, events and co-living facilities, innovation labs as well as talent development centres.
The HLX Integrated Innovation Centre, which is said to be Asia’s first innovation exchange, will have a total space of 250,000 sq ft and aims to accommodate start-ups, large corporations, technology partners and venture capitalists.
The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), an agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry, is the strategic partner of HLX.
The construction of the tower is expected to be completed by end-2020, with current progress standing at 35%.
HLX will be situated along the prime location of Jalan Kia Peng in Kuala Lumpur.
Speaking to the media during a briefing yesterday, HLX Management Sdn Bhd general manager Mohamed Reezan Mohd Fadzil said that nearly 100,000 sq ft of the space has been taken up.
For context, HLX Management, which is 100% owned by Guocoland Malaysia, will be in charge of HLX’S operations.
“The whole construct (HLX) is an innovation centre. We make no preference on what type of businesses we want to have in HLX.
“Innovation cascades across all verticals and industries.
“We encourage start-ups related to food and beverages, technology, fintech, smart building and agritech, among others, to be part of HLX.
“We believe that for true innovation to happen, all these businesses cannot be in isolation.
“They must be blended and co-exist, so that they all can contribute to each other,” said Mohd Reezan.
He also revealed that HLX is currently exploring several options with Hong Leong Group to provide special financing and insurance packages, among others, to the tenants of HLX.
Yesterday, HLX Management announced its collaboration with the KCOM Group, which will be the anchor tenant at HLX’S Level 6.
Level 6 will host the Beyond4 training and certification programmes, which will be conducted beginning December 2019.
“KCOM Group is definitely a game changer in human capital development in Malaysia.
“With the launch of the Beyond4 programmes, we hope to train 2,000 people in 2020 and transform the workforce, raising strong leaders to lead the fast-evolving digital economy of tomorrow,” said Mohd Reezan.
KCOM Group will be a key stakeholder of the HLX Academy to provide specialised development and upskilling programmes under its Beyond4 training banner, matching talent skill sets to the needs of the industry and government, as well as mentoring and industry placements.
“We at KCOM Group, with our Centre of Excellence Training (COET) Beyond4 platform, have been leading this upskilling journey towards Industrial Revolution 4.0 since 2016 with our COET partners,” said KCOM Group chief executive officer S.T. Rubaneswaran.
Over the next five years, Rubaneswaran pointed out that the Beyond4 training banner expects to train at least 10,000 skilled individuals in technology.