PETALING JAYA, 4 Nov 2008: The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Rehda) welcomes the government’s latest announcements on the construction and housing industry.
Its president Datuk Ng Seing Liong said in a statement that Rehda is pleased that the government has increased its role in providing more low cost and medium cost homes to the people.
“Such move will relieve the private sector developers from social obligations and allow us to focus on meeting the demand for market driven products especially during these trying times,” he said.
Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that the government would allocate RM1.2bil to build 25,000 units of low and medium cost houses.
The allocation was part of the government’s RM7 billion stimulus package to reinforce the economy.
Ng added that allowing individuals to purchase commercial real estate worth RM500,000 and above without any Foreign Investment Committee’s approval will encourage greater interests for foreigners to invest here.
He also said the reduction in Employees Provident Fund contributions by employees will enable greater disposable income available to spend on housing.
“We hope that the people will take this opportunity to save and invest wisely. Property investment is still one of the most viable options considering the high yield benefits in the longer term,” he added.
Rehda also lauded the government’s efforts to abolish import duty for cement, iron and steel products for the construction industry.
“Rehda hopes to see that such a move will translate into lower costs of building materials, and that the local suppliers will now price their products more competitively,” Ng said. 
