CPN plans Bt12bn investment in Asean

The mall will be developed in a 60:40 joint venture – Central Plaza i-City Mall Malaysia – between CPN and I-City Properties Sendirian Berhad, a subsidiary of I-Berhad, a leading real-estate developer in Malaysia. 

Construction will start next year for the planned opening in 2016. With gross floor area of 278,000 square metres and 89,700sqm net leasable area, the project is expected to take about seven years to recoup investment.

Wallaya Chirathivat, senior executive vice president for business development and construction for CPN, said yesterday that the company is also in early discussions with potential partners in Indonesia and Vietnam. “Entering an overseas market is a challenge for CPN. We see opportunities in overseas markets, particularly in Asean countries, thanks to the Asean Community. As a single market, the aggregated Asean market will have high economic circulation and purchasing power, which are 

positive factors for the retail industry,” she said.

CPN is interested in countries with high urban growth, a large population and expanding groups of middle- and high-income consumers. 

“We are focusing on promoting organisational growth with aggressive strategies. Over the next five years, we expect to open more shopping malls in Asean countries, each under a budget of Bt4 billion-Bt5 billion,” she said.

CPN has been in the mall development business for almost 32 years and has a solid foundation with 23 malls in the local market, including Central Festival Chiang Mai, which opens in November, and Central Festival Hat Yai, which opens in the middle of December, she said. 

Koh Samui will follow in the first quarter of next year. 

To roll out about three malls domestically per year, the company is starting to expand into second-tier provinces.

The Malaysian government wants to lift the country to developed status by 2020 with 7  per cent average annual growth in GDP and average income of about US$15,000 (Bt480,000) per capita per year. That would make Malaysia, with a population of 29 million people as of last year, a high-income country.