Sunway expects bigger consumer growth

PETALING JAYA: Sunway Bhd, which has partnered with Syarikat Prasarana Nasional Bhd to build the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Sunway Line, expects a bigger consumer growth in Sunway Resort City upon completion of the BRT as well as the Subang Jaya LRT stations.

“With better connectivity for people, we see bigger consumer growth for Sunway. And I believe the government is waiting for this system to work before implementing it in other parts of the country,” Sunway founder and chairman Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah told The Edge Financial Daily yesterday.

The proposed BRT Sunway Line will link up key areas in Sunway and Subang Jaya via seven stations. The BRT network will be connected to both the Kelana Jaya LRT Extension Line at USJ 6 and KTMB Setia Jaya station near the Federal Highway.

The project commenced in the second quarter of this year and is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

Cheah said Sunway has spent about RM100 million on the project, while Prasarana has spent more than RM400 million. The BRT, which will enable 500,000 passengers to commute per annum, includes the building of elevators at each station.

Its is expected to draw more people to Sunway Resort City, which comprises a shopping mall (Sunway Pyramid), hotel (Sunway Pyramid Hotel), theme park (Sunway Lagoon), educational centres (Sunway University, Sunway College, Monash University, Sunway International School, Le Cordon Bleu), hospital (Sunway Hospital) and residences (South Quay, Sunway Geo).

Cheah said he hopes the completion of the new Subang LRT stations will coincide with the completion date of the BRT Sunway Link.

The Subang LRT project, called Kelana Jaya LRT extension, is undertaken by Prasarana.

The Kelana Jaya Line extension begins from Kelana Jaya station and passes through 13 new stations, including Subang Jaya and USJ before ending at Putra Heights. Covering a distance of 17km, the project is expected to be completed in 2015.

Earlier, Cheah signed an agreement with Viacom International Media Networks, a global television content, to extend the strategic collaboration between the two parties for another three years.

The collaboration, first entered into four years ago, will bring a popular music event, the MTV World Stage Malaysia, to Sunway City.

Sunway hopes to attract about 30,000 visitors for the upcoming MTV World Stage Malaysia, which will be held on Sept 8. The music event attracted more than 18,000 people last year.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 25, 2013.