MALAYSIAN developer UEM Sunrise has stopped plans to build the huge Asian Trade Centre development in Iskandar - the first major project in the region to fall through.
No reasons were given for the decision, which is likely to intensify concerns that the fast-growing region is hitting some speed bumps.
The move, which it revealed to The Straits Times recently, has stunned property experts, given that UEM Sunrise managing director and chief executive Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib said in a New Straits Times report in December that it was "in the midst of getting approvals from the relevant authorities" for the project.
A property consultant noted the first phase of the centre's development, the China Mall, was supposed to be a catalyst - a mall "even larger than Pavilion in Kuala Lumpur", and meant to attract foreign investors. "Cancelling it is not good for business. Others may have made plans based on the announcement," he said.
