Sepang, 29 April 2014 - The Secretary General of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, YBhg. Datuk Dr. Ong Hong Peng officiated the ground breaking ceremony for the commencement of the construction of the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA today. This signals a significant start to the development of the factory outlet park, under the KLIA Aeropolis effort.
MFMA Development Sdn Bhd, a joint venture company started in August 2013 between Mitsui Fudasan and Malaysia Airports will undertake the construction, leasing to tenants, promotions as well as the management and operations of the outlet mall. The said company is 70% owned by Mitsui Fudasan and 30% owned by Malaysia Airports. Spearheading the joint venture company is Mr Takehito Fukui from Mitsui Fudosan as the Managing Director.
The Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA will open its doors to the public by the early of 2015 with offerings of 140 outlets spanning over a commercial space of 25,000sqm under Phase 1. With a concept plan themed '"Paradise Village", Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA will be the largest outlet park in Southeast Asia showcasing entertainment and shopping, complemented by recreation and relaxation.
Conceptualised by Nonscale, a Japanese designer well known for his architectural finesse, the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA will feature (4) four distinctive concepts namely the Sunshine Square, Pier Walk, Tropical Plaza and Beach Walk, each representing the architectural design of each zone. Customers patronising the Sunshine Square will enjoy browsing through a luxury street concept sunlit by stylish skylight. The Pier Walk concept promotes accessibility within the dynamic mall space while the Tropical Plaza and Beach Walk promote a relaxing ambiance enriched with greenery and curvy streets, delighting customers with an ambience likened to a tropical beach escape.
Advocating the principle of 'focusing on people' and championing the aspirations of creating an enriching experience while blending into community lifestyles, the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA will redefine the shopping experience for visitors. Providing a wide variety of brands and products at discounted and affordable prices, the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA offerings will encompass an array of exciting luxury brands, specialty boutiques and popular sports brands from Europe, the United States and Asia including from Japan and Malaysia. Another interesting attraction would be the unveiling of a Japanese specialty store where the lifestyle and culture of Japan comes alive through the showcase of Japanese Food Culture, traditional arts and crafts, delicacies and technology. There will also be scrumptious offerings of international cuisine under the World Food Expo concept to tantalise the taste buds of every customer. Other features include an entertainment, sports and leisure centre, an amusement park and a creativity development facility for children.
"As the economy of Malaysia continues to grow and with KLIA gaining importance as a regional hub, the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA is positioned to be the most sought after commercial facility in Southeast Asia," said Mr Takeshi Suzuki, Managing Officer of Mitsui Fudosan.
Leveraging on the operational experience and expertise of Mitsui Fudosan and its good business relationship with international brand owners, MFMA Development is currently in negotiation with potential business partners and is expected to introduce a myriad of brands and products that will attract customers of different demographics, locals and foreigners alike.
The easy accessibility, high visibility and strategic location of the Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA, which is about 60 km south from the Kuala Lumpur city centre and 6 km from KL International Airport serves as an ideal location for tenants and customers of the factory outlet shopping mall. There are also plans in the pipeline to provide shuttle bus service from KLIA to the outlet and to establish check-in counters, and flight information display boards to further facilitate travellers. Additionally, for the convenience of the general public, there will be over 2,500 parking lots.
"The Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA will certainly further enhance the spectrum of attractions in Malaysia", said YBhg Datuk Dr. Ong Hong Peng. Datuk Dr Ong Hong Peng added that hosting the potentially largest factory outlet shopping mall in Southeast Asia would be a massive leap forward in providing the convenience of quality and competitive shopping.
Phase 1 development has taken into consideration the commercial market potential in Kuala Lumpur in terms of the increase in population, income level, and the number of tourists. Additionally, passenger movements in KLIA has been encouraging. In 2013, KLIA registered over 47 million passengers with a 19% increase from the previous year of 39 million passengers. Correspondingly, in the same year, ACI ranked KLIA as the world's 20th busiest airport based on overall passenger movements and the world's 11th busiest for international passenger movements. The tremendous growth in passenger movements augurs well for the project as well as the development of KLIA Aeropolis.
The Final Master Plan, which encompasses development stage of Phase 2 and 3 by 2018 and 2021 respectively will increase commercial space to 46,300 sqm, whilst housing approximately 260 shops.
Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA is an integral aspect of the KLIA Aeropolis Plan, a development mix of commercial real estate that will include offices, commercial establishments, a convention centre, logistics facilities, a theme park, golf courses, and many other attractive projects. The outlet will be developed in approximately 180,000sqm area of land.
"The Mitsui Outlet Park KLIA is poised to be a destination of choice regionally and a stimulus for the development under the KLIA Aeropolis Masterplan", said YBhg Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdulllah, Chairman of Malaysia Airports.
"The project dovetails perfectly with our new vision of becoming 'The Global Leader in Creating Airport Cities'. This project not only demonstrates our commitment but it also serves as a catalyst towards achieving this vision," Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz added.
Malaysia Airports sees this joint venture as a pacesetter for the development of KLIA Aeropolis and it will boost the confidence of investors and developers in the commercial potential of KLIA land. Malaysia Airports is pleased to form this strategic partnership with Mitsui Fudosan which has vast experience and proven track record in real estate development including the development and marketing of outlets. Amongst the most important benefits from this project is the opportunity to further expand Malaysia Airports' commercial revenue base.
The Mitsui Outlet Park is the first major joint venture shopping mall project in Southeast Asia for Mitsui Fudosan and it will be the largest outlet establishment by the said company. Mitsui Fudosan regards the overseas projects as a growing field. It has developed and managed an outlet mall in Ningbo, China, and has plans for similar outlet mall projects in Taiwan, and LaLaport project in Shanghai Jin Qiao. Mitsui Fudosan also developed housing projects in Tianjin Eco-City, as well as Shanghai New Town "Haoshihuang ma yuan." With a focus on property development and commercial projects, Mitsui Fudosan sets further engagement in business deployment in Southeast Asia in the future as one of its strategies for further growth. To date, Mitsui Fudosan has drawn up an investment of 500 billion yen in Europe and the United States, as well as Asia by fiscal 2017 in Innovation 2017 (Mitsui Fudosan's group medium to long-term business plan 2012 - 2017).
Also present at the Ground Breaking ceremony are YBhg Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad, Managing Director of Malaysia Airports, Mr Takehito Fukui, Managing Director of MFMA Development Sdn Bhd. and Dr Kazuhiro Kawase, Economic Counsellor from the Embassy of Japan.
For the latest development on the project, log on to www.MitsuiOutletParkKLIA.com.my.