The bi-annual World Congress on Information Technology (a global ICT forum that brings together global business and government leaders as well as academics) was held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from 18th to 22nd May. The international event was a chance for leaders to exchange ideas and policies on technology to affect global economic and social development and (if organisers hopes are realised) it will also raise the profile of Malaysia's best high tech property among the elite of the IT world.
 
During the congress, delegates and members of the press took a tour of property in Malaysia's high tech hub Cyberjaya. Cyberjaya, situated 40 kilometres south of the capital Kuala Lumpur, was designed to be Malaysia's  answer to Silicon Valley – with high-tech, low density and environmentally friendly property – and officially opened in 1999. The city lies at the heart of Malaysia's so-called Multimedia Super-Corridor (MSC), with the soaring Petronas Towers at one end and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport at the other. Today, many multinational companies, including Ericcson, Dell, HSBC and IBM, have operations in 7,000-acre Cyberjaya.
 
Landowner and developer Cyberview, together with stakeholders and the Multimedia Development Corporation, took Conference delegates around the Malaysia's high-tech highlights of Cyberjaya; while Cyberview also announced the launch of more affordable property in Cyberjaya from August this year.
 
"Housing in the city is not cheap, with apartments priced from RM300,000 (£47,165), but by August we'll be launching apartments priced from RM88,000 (£13,836) and two-storey townhouses priced from RM168,000 (£26,415)," Cyberview managing director Redza Rafiq told Malaysian newspaper The Star.
 
Further development in the pipeline for Cyberjaya could also see the city's population increase from the present 35,000 to 60,000 by 2010. With the heads of other multinational corporations recently seeing the high-tech charms and strategic location of Cyberjaya first-hand, now could be the time to consider buying property to let in Malaysia's high-tech property market.
 
Elsewhere, Malaysia's many tourist attractions – including paradise-like beaches and unspoilt ancient jungle, as well as the emerging world city Kuala Lumpur – have led to increased visitor numbers in recent times.

The latest figures to be released by the Immigration Department of Malaysia show a 51.5 per cent growth in Russian tourist arrivals in April 2008 compared with April 2007. In total over 1.7 million tourists visited the Southeast Asian country in April 2008, with a 0.8 per cent increase in arrivals for the period January to April 2008 recorded compared to the same period last year. Visitors from the UK also increased in April year-on-year by 24.5 per cent.
 
These increases in arrivals further confirm Malaysia's position as a top tourism destination and could mean there is potential for decent returns on investments in holiday rental property in the future.
 
The Malaysian government's 'My Second Home Programme' makes it easy, convenient and advantageous for foreign investors to purchase a property in Malaysia, and the coastal region of Sepang may be worth considering.

Experience International are offering one-bedroom apartments in Sepang from £78,273, or a two-bedroom villa set on silts from £147,709.

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Article first published 27 May 2008