Greater Kuala Lumpur the ideal South-East Asian base for expats

Davison carves out time from his busy scheldule to spend quality time with his daughter Angelina, 4, and son Michael, 11, who enjoy computer games at their home in Section 17, Petaling Jaya.

PETALING JAYA: Greater Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia made a big impression on J Andrew Davison of The Expat Group when it came to taking the entrepreneurial plunge after spending 25 years working in many countries for American Express.

Each country had their own attractions and charms, but when grouped together, Davison decided that Greater Kuala Lumpur and Malaysia, after travelling extensively in this region, had the best package when he decided to leave his well-paying job to start his own business nearly two decades ago.

He and a Malaysian friend started The Expat magazine in 1996 and that business has gradually expanded to multiple publications and websites targeting the international community.

“It is a country where English is widely spoken, which given my poor linguistic skills was important.

“Not only that it seemed to be making real economic progress and I recalled how much I had enjoyed living here when I was running the Malaysian operations of American Express,” said Davison on Malaysia’s plus points.

According to the World Bank, the Malaysian economy grew on average 7.3% between 1985 and 1995. After the Asian financial crisis of 1997/1998, Malaysia continued to post solid growth rates, averaging 5.5% per year from 2000 to 2008. Growth was accompanied by a dramatic reduction in poverty from 49.3% in 1970 to 1.7% in 2012.

In its latest East Asia Pacific Economic Update, The World Bank expects the Malaysian economy to grow 4.9% in 2014, in line with Bank Negara’s estimates 4.5% to 5.5% growth predictions. The country’s GDP already hit 6.2% in the first quarter of 2014. As the infrastructure in Greater Kuala Lumpur improves each year, the proposition to expatriates to call Greater Kuala Lumpur home becomes increasingly tempting (as of 2010, the World Bank reports 32,583 expatriates in West Malaysia).

Malaysia’s cost competitiveness has been noted by Mercer’s Global Cost of Living Survey, which ranked Malaysia number 102 in 2012, with number 1 being most expensive. In line with the Government’s efforts to promote Malaysia as an education hub, the country now boasts 99 international schools with an additional 23 licenses granted by the Education Ministry.

Add to that the relative ease of traffic compared with Bangkok and Jakarta, and Davison opines that if more regional headquarters currently based in other cities in South-East Asia better understood what Greater Kuala Lumpur has to offer, they would seriously think about relocating here.

“Malaysia offers good value for money [the ratio of operating costs to infrastructural development] and the government’s investment in infrastructure has kept pace with rising costs so it still represents excellent value for the foreign investor, particularly companies looking for a regional operating centre where costs are critical factor,” he said.

“The government’s dedication to making Malaysia a business friendly location has borne fruit, with the international community appreciating the ease of doing business in the country, as validated by the World Bank in its recent Ease of Doing Business Report (which saw Malaysia jump to 6th place internationally).

National efforts in facilitating the setting up of new businesses and building an efficient ecosystem for investors and business to operate in and from have not gone unnoticed – with InvestKL and Mida leading the charge in attracting foreign businesses to Greater Kuala Lumpur,” Davison continued.

As a result of such efforts, based on the 2014 World Competitiveness Yearbook Ranking by global business school IMD, Malaysia has emerged as the 12th most competitive country.

The IMD also noted that in terms of the countries’ image abroad that encourages business development, Malaysia came in at the 15th spot with a score 7.61 (scores range from 0 as most negative to 10 as most positive).

The study said: “In general, there is a strong correlation between a country’s overall competitiveness ranking and its international image as a place to do business.”

Davison concurs, stating that The Expat Group’s success was also due to the fact that they “were able to capitalise on the steady increase in Malaysia by the international community.

In the last 20 years Malaysia’s international profile has both increased and improved and this has generated more interest by people wishing to invest, visit or settle here. This has meant our target audience has been steadily increasing.”

For prospective expatriates deciding on staying in South-East Asia, Davison noticed Malaysians are a lot friendlier to expats than several other Asian countries where he had worked. Another plus was the smorgasbord of attractive destinations that feed his passion for driving.

“Since I moved back here the city has gone from strength to strength. There has been a massive investment in infrastructure and the city has transformed in front of my eyes,” he said.

New buildings, roads, malls and entertainment outlets add to the buzz of excitement a city offers as it transforms and grows.

The Government’s investment in infrastructure improvement has seen the opening of klia2 to add to the 1,990 flights weekly to 103 cities, and work is currently being done on the improving the Light Rail Transit system and developing a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system for Greater Kuala Lumpur.

Work on the first line of the MRT is underway, with an additional two lines to be developed as part of a federal push towards building an integrated urban public transport system.

The River of Life project identified under the Economic Transformation Programme aims to add to the city’s economic and liveability appeal, just as in Vancouver, Melbourne, Auckland, Geneva and Seoul, with the government planning to transform the Klang River into a vibrant waterfront of high economic value.

For expatriates like Davison, the proliferation of new, well designed high rise apartments and gated communities offering many excellent facilities was equally important to the growing community of expatriates that are thinking of planting roots in Greater Kuala Lumpur.

“Greater Kuala Lumpur is an exciting place to live. There are always things happening and witnessing the transformation of the city and country has been a truly wonderful experience,” said Davison.

“We have seen a growing number of expats who enjoy life in Malaysia so much that they choose to stay on here. They are willing to take local packages and the liberalising of the work permit regulations makes them a viable source of skilled labour,” he said.

HSBC’s 2013 Expat Survey ranks Malaysia as having the second best work culture.

“I have no hesitation in recommending people live or invest in Greater Kuala Lumpur. I know of several companies who have found InvestKL’s services invaluable in helping them set up their businesses in this country,” he said. “Their dedicated team looking out for corporations who are interested to invest in this market through facilitation of the investment process ensure that it is smooth and hassle-free.”

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