Asian Property Review, a new regional property magazine has a mission to highlight the best of Asia in terms of places and people, says the founder and publisher of the magazine. “In recent months, as a result of several unfortunate incidents such as the disappearance of MH370, a lot of negative press has been whipped up by the foreign media on Malaysia. The very damaging publicity has caused Malaysia Airlines to suffer great losses, not to mention a drastic drop in tourism revenue for Malaysia.
The biggest contributor to this negative turn of events is public perception. For example, some companies in Hong Kong have banned their staff from flying with MAS, while even up till today, there are people in Beijing who are cancelling their trips to Malaysia,” said Dato’ Sri Gavin Tee, founder and publisher of Asian Property Review (APR). Tee added that the bad publicity on Malaysia is still on the minds of many while positive things of the country have been overlooked. “As such, we need to give more publicity to the good things as well such as how Malaysia is still a great tourism and investment destination.”
On the impending AEC (ASEAN Economic Community), Tee lamented that it is a hot topic in politics but unfortunately has not attracted that much attention and visibility in the business community. As such, APR will organize events which will highlight the best of ASEAN. “APR hopes to encourage collaboration between businesses in ASEAN as well as promoting the region to the world.” In addition to that, Tee said the publication will leverage on expos and television shows as well as other online platform in the near future to drive home the message.
Prior to the launch, Dato’ Sri Gavin Tee gave a talk entitled, “Going Global, what and where to invest?”
“The launch of the magazine is very timely indeed. At a time when Malaysia faces increasing headwinds in many areas, APR carries an important role to present a beautiful Asia to the world,” Tee said.
Further, in view of the trend towards regionalisation, the need to embrace cross-border business will eventually become the norm creating a great need for information on overseas opportunities including real estate, said Jan Yong, Chief Editor of Asian Property Review.
“Information is changing all the time and to get the most updated and accurate information, one needs to do a lot of research and due diligence. This is where Asian Property Review magazine comes in – it provides valuable nuggets of information, advice and opinions on what, where, how and when to invest. In short, it does half the hard work for the investor,” said Yong, adding that with AEC taking shape by the end of the year, the need becomes all the more urgent given that three quarters of the countries in Asia are still at an emerging state in regards to its property regulations. Both Tee and Yong were speaking at the launch of the magazine recently at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC). The venue was provided by Sime Darby Berhad.
“Although founded and managed by a team of Malaysians, the international flavour is maintained through a network of foreign contributors who reside in the country they write about – these experts have knowledge from the ground and are able to give insightful analysis of their host country. Their insights – intelligent and incisive – add to the arsenal of information the investor needs. Presented in an easy-to-read format, the magazine is well suited to a readership ranging from sophisticated global investors to first time investors,” continued Yong.
Finally, the launch is a historic moment as it represents the ‘Malaysia Boleh’ spirit in one of its purest examples. Pioneering an Asia-wide magazine is no small feat and it is hoped that this maiden effort will spur other Malaysians to explore beyond our shores in business.
Among the guests are Datuk Donald Lim, Former Deputy Minister of Finance; Mr. Wu Zheng Ping, Economic and Commercial Counsellor of The Embassy of the People’s Republic of China to Malaysia; Veena Loh, General Manager of Malaysia Property Inc (MPI); Erick Koh, President of Malaysian Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA); Tan Sri Datuk Danny Ooi, Founder of Malaysian Book Of Records; Mr Keith Li, Acting President of China Enterprise Association in Malaysia; Datuk Eric Chong, President of Branding Association of Malaysia and representatives from the Bank of China and ICBC. Many directors and CEOs of major developers and real estate professionals were also present at the launch.
