The Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) has called on the government to freeze issuing licences for new malls as the massive supply of malls in Malaysia is putting a strain on retailers.
According to President Datuk Garry Chua, the association has brought up the issue in its dialogues with the government.
Pointing to Henry Butcher’s 2015 figures, he noted that Malaysia has 137 million sq ft of lettable space, of which only 82 to 83 percent is occupied.
“There is a big gap of unoccupied spaces,” said Chua at the MRCA Engaging With the Media event.
Deputy president Valerie Choo expects the supply of malls to double or triple over the next two years. As such, she urge developers to take extra caution when planning their mixed development.
“As much as we want to expand, sometimes malls close to each other will cannibalise each other’s clientele.”
Choo cited the case of Indonesia, which froze the approval for shopping malls.
“Too many malls will be tough on retailers,” she said.
Choo also urged the government to provide retailers with tax incentive in Budget 2017, given that any expansion incurs heavy investments on the part of retailers, particularly when they need to refurbish their outlets every two to three years.
During the event, MasterCard and MRCA, which has over 20,000 member outlets, also unveiled a five-year collaboration to accelerate and enhance payments technology and capability for members.
The collaboration will help in the implementation of new payment propositions that will enable merchants to realise the electronic payments’ benefits.
Mangalesri Chandrasekaran, Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories email mangales@propertyguru.com.my
