gnificant potential as it remains largely underserved, especially lacking malls with 1 million square feet of net lettable area. This size enables a diverse and comprehensive trade mix. Sunway Carnival Mall’s success, after doubling its size to 1 million square feet, demonstrated an expanded and enhanced trade mix, resulting in double-digit growth and an enlarged catchment beyond 20km. In fact, Sunway Carnival now attracts 11 per cent of its traffic from neighbouring Kedah state (including districts like Sungai Patani and Kulim). We anticipate similar potential for Sunway Ipoh Mall in these aspects. In terms of tourism, Perak attracted 17.1 million domestic and 7.5 million international tourists last year. As the capital city of Perak, Ipoh’s potential is immense. The Sunway City Ipoh township, part of Sunway Group’s masterplan, now boasts major attractions like the Lost World of Tambun theme park and the world-renowned Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat. Over three decades, Sunway has crafted a world-class integrated township spanning 1350 acres. The Jeff’s Cellar restaurant at the Banjaran has been voted among the best and most unique in the world by CNN and the township was highlighted as one of Malaysia’s top tourist spots by The New York Times, spurring world-wide interest in the theme park and the hot springs. With international recognition, Sunway City Ipoh development has clearly placed Ipoh on the global tourist map and there is a need to build a large mall to complete the township as a desired destination for travellers. IR: Can you share the strategic goals and vision behind this investment? HC: Traditionally, the footprint for Sunway Malls is most concentrated in Klang Valley whereby four out of our total seven malls are located here. We have certainly built a strong captive base in the central region. Our next strategic goals are to venture beyond Klang Valley to focus on both northern and southern regions in Malaysia as market readiness and acceptance in these regions have progressed significantly over the years. We wish to bring the same Sunway Malls experience beyond Klang Valley.  One of the most significant drivers is the absence of intense competition as the number of malls in these regions are less. According to Malaysia Shopping Mall Association’s figures, there are 700 malls in Malaysia today and 50 per cent are located in Klang Valley. This is certainly a very competitive landscape. Arising from these, we see a lot of latent demand and potential from other regions.   Since the mall is part of the integrated development of Sunway City Ipoh, it serves a larger purpose. Sunway City Ipoh follows the blueprint of our highly successful Sunway City Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s first integrated green city. Our role, along with the township’s other components, is to work in harmony to revitalise Ipoh’s economy, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. Beyond the mall, Sunway Medical Centre is set to open next year, while an education hub is in development within the township. These additions create new opportunities for medical and educational tourism. This year, Perak has already welcomed 200,000 international travellers from January to May. Thanks to the state government’s “Visit Perak 2024” campaign, this number is projected to double by year’s end. Apart from international tourism, Sunway City Ipoh is also strategically located along the North-South Highway, the longest expressway in Malaysia. The mall has the potential to become the largest “Rest and Recreation” hub in the country as travellers on the road could reach a potential high of 4 million vehicles during peak seasons, especially during the multiple festive holidays Malaysia enjoys and long school breaks.  With Sunway Ipoh Mall in place, Sunway City Ipoh aims to attract at least 20-30 per cent of both international and domestic travellers, on top of the surrounding family and young teenage communities. Collectively, the mall, medical centre, new hotels and education hub are expected to add thousands of new jobs and generate significant economic and social multiplier effects for the state.  IR: How does this new mall fit into Sunway Malls’ overall expansion and growth strategy? HC: Sunway Malls is gearing to be amongst Malaysia’s largest mall owner-operators, with a diversity of retail properties to maximise potential returns via capital growth. Our existing projects and those in the pipeline now stand at 8.2 million square feet of net lettable area (NLA) and that figure is planned to be increased to 10.2 million in the next few years to come. We are confident in our strategy to focus towards the northern region as Sunway Carnival in Penang topped the sales performance among Sunway Malls since its expansion was opened in mid-2022.  Our strategy in focusing on other regions apart from our traditional stronghold of the central region has thus far paved the way for better contribution in terms of sales growth. As tourism and urbanisation intensify, society will crave more space and consumer demand will evolve as well. Some of the bigger cities in Malaysia are slightly oversaturated with malls but there are still pockets nationwide that are underserved, which should be encouraged particularly in economically driven states such as Perak. IR: Are there any innovative features that will set this mall apart from others in Malaysia? HC: Currently, this aspect is yet to be disclosed as technology and innovations today move at a fast pace. We are still in the midst of discoursing potential innovative features for Sunway Ipoh Mall. IR: What challenges do you foresee in the development and operation of this mall, and how do you plan to address them? HC: Despite a strong population of above 870,000 people, Ipoh is nationally known as a city for retirement; one of the reasons why household incomes in Ipoh, specifically, and Perak in general, are among the lowest in Malaysia. Talents in Ipoh are trickling to the urban cities in Kuala Lumpur, Penang and others. To operate a world-class mall in Ipoh, it is imperative that the mall is supported by other tourism developments, for a stronger and more impactful synergy.   The Mayor of Ipoh himself has publicly stated that the city needs to move away from being a ‘retirement city’ and shift towards tourism to create new high-income job opportunities, which will then increase the purchasing power of the people and attract the interest of young talents that currently lacks in the state. By establishing a thriving ecosystem through an integrated township like Sunway City Ipoh, it will help reverse this trend and also attract the best and brightest from around the world to make Ipoh their home. IR: Are there any future projects or expansions planned for Sunway Malls in other regions? HC: In the pipeline, Sunway is also building two other malls – Sunway Square with a retail space of 300,000 square feet in Sunway City Kuala Lumpur and Sunway Pier with a retail space of 350,000 square feet in Port Klang. Recent acquisitions announced by Sunway Reit saw the inclusion of six Giant retail complexes – Kiara 163 in Kuala Lumpur and Kluang Mall in Johor – into its retail portfolio. These assets will also be operated by Sunway Malls in the near future. The inclusion of both pipeline developments and acquired assets will see Sunway Malls portfolio grow from seven retail developments to 17. In the long run, we are highly optimistic about our growth story as we are building from a position of strength.