Foreign Property News | Posted by Si Thu Aung
A Malaysian program to attract wealthy foreigners to live in the Southeast Asian nation has drawn 251 applications from Hong Kong residents this year, compared with 193 approved last year from the Chinese-ruled city, a government official said.
Property consultants said interest in the "Malaysia My Second Home" (MM2H) initiative has surged among residents of the Asian financial hub, rattled by anti-Beijing protests that began more than 11 weeks ago.
Real estate agents expect Malaysia and Thailand to benefit the most from some Hong Kong residents' frustration over the second bout of lengthy demonstrations in five years in the former British colony, which returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
"The push factor from Hong Kong will definitely make Malaysia one of the best alternatives for a new location to reside," said Sharifah Ikhlas Aljaffree, the director of the program run by Malaysia's tourism ministry.
"Our strength lies not only in our nation's friendliness, affordable cost of living and high quality of life (healthcare included) but also the stability of our economy and politics plus our developed infrastructure," she told Reuters.
Sharifah said the program had received this year a total of 3,500 applications as of yesterday, versus 6,279 in 2018. None of this year's applications had been approved, she said.
It was not immediately clear how many applications were received last year from Hong Kong, one of the world's most densely populated and expensive cities.
Hong Kong applicants are on either side of 50 and work in sectors such as information and communications technology, Sharifah added.
Those approved get renewable multiple-entry resident visas and are allowed to buy property valued at 1 million ringgit ($239,234) or more, and own vehicles.
Ref: Property Report
