‘A township that supports futuristic urban lifestyle’

There are a lot of activities happening right now on the first island, which is our Phase 1 development.

We are building 20,000 apartment units. We have also started building our first international school here, which is private American boarding school Shattuck-St Mary’s, and the Industrialised Building System (IBS) factory. Phase 1 of the IBS factory will be completed in May next year and opening is in August.

We have opened the duty-free shops on the business strip next to Phoenix Hotel, and it is attracting a lot of tourists.

The checkpoint with the Customs Department is currently running. This year is also quite important as we did the groundbreaking of our iconic building, Carnelian Tower. The 45-storey building will be completed by 2020 and is currently the tallest tower in Forest City.

The IBS is developed using European technology. Although slightly costlier, it is a faster way of producing things. In the long run, it will be cost effective, especially when you build in bulk.

When we look at the requirement historically, we have had a very good kick-start as we sold 17,000 apartment units in one year. Obviously, we need to turn that into sales, so we will need to build those properties in three years, and IBS is the best method to get it done.

Based on our extensive experience in building hundreds of townships in China, we have seen that IBS creates a safer, more efficient work environment, and achieves a faster project completion while reducing overall costs. Our goal is to create a world-class, sustainable township in Southeast Asia that supports a futuristic urban lifestyle. Our development’s custom-designed features are holistic and sustainable, and we are committed to becoming a role model for green and smart living.

For now, we plan to have around 200 buildings once the whole development is completed. They will include residential, office, shopping malls and data centres.

The first island is a development comprising a total of 1,100 acres. So far, we have reclaimed 700 acres, or 60 per cent, and work is ongoing. What we have here is Phoenix Hotel, apartments, our sales gallery, and show units.

With the current economic situation, we are anticipating 20 to 30 years. At the moment, we are reclaiming based on our need. In the future, we might change the way we develop things in Forest City. We may reclaim all the land first and then build.

We have the same concern. The Forest City demand cannot be constrained only to Malaysia. Last year, we sold 17,000 apartments to people from 23 countries, including Malaysia.

From day one, we were sure Forest City is an international project and not just domesticfocused.

In Johor, we see a lot of young graduates who need houses under RM400,000. On the other hand, foreigners are looking for (higherend) houses and that creates another market. As long as you are providing products better than your peers, you can still sell them.

Forest City looks more towards the global market. We always look at our project as the catalyst for Johor.

When you talk about a glut in the market, there is always more supply than demand. In Forest City, I don't anticipate there would be an oversupply situation. I don't think that will happen.

We are targeting a working population of more than 200,000 in Forest City by the end of the development and they will need houses to stay in. As I said, more than 90 per cent will be Malaysians. If you look at this kind of demand, you can't say there is an oversupply.