YTL Corp Bhd will inject some of its overseas projects into YTL Land & Development Bhd by the year-end to transform the property unit into an international player.
For a start, the group will place its three projects in Singapore – Sandy Island and Kasara villas in Sentosa Cove, and the redevelopment of Westwood Apartments on Orchard Boulevard – under YTL Land.
Currently, these projects are under YTL Singapore Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned unit of YTL Group. YTL Corp managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh says YTL Land will be busy with more projects as the group focused on expanding its presence in Asia.
It will concentrate on building luxurious residences in highly-sought-after destinations that offer unique culture and lifestyle. Yeoh says YTL Land can tap into YTL Corp’s experience in building properties in Phuket, Pangkor, Bali and Sentosa Cove, Singapore. YTL Corp has a low-density luxurious villa project in Bali, Indonesia, and a big development in Koh Samui, Thailand.
Its hospitality arm YTL Hotels & Properties Sdn Bhd recently acquired Niseko Village, a prime winter and summer destination in Hokkaido, Japan, for six billion yen (RM224mil).
YTL Hotels is also embarking on some overseas projects such as the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai; the MUSE Hotel De Luxe in Saint-Tropez, France; and The Chedi in Phuket, Thailand.
Yeoh believes the next two to three decades will see Asia growing from an emerging market to a global economic powerhouse. He says the South-East Asian region is also likely to see big growth over the next two decades. “The tourism and related industries in this region can be an incubator for bigger things.
“South-East Asia is actually the Mediterranean and Caribbean of the East, offering lots of opportunities from the real estate perspective,” he tells
StarBizWeek in Singapore on Saturday.
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