Thomas Tan
Boustead Properties Berhad, a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Berhad, provided rental waivers and rebates, commercial and other assistance amounting to RM18 million to 350 tenants at its six commercial properties in the country.
Boustead Properties chairman Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said during MCO 1.0 and 2.0, the financial relief borne by Boustead Properties assisted tenants in a cross-spectrum of essential and critical trade and service categories in weathering the severe economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We understand the needs of the full cycle of our business community and decided that it was necessary and timely to take bold steps to support the tenants whom we consider our business partners, as well as their workers’ livelihoods.
“We also wanted to ensure that we lent a hand to the smaller homegrown SMEs, as well as fellow Malaysians including the lower-income food court, street market and push-cart operators at the mall,” he added.
Khaled, who is also Boustead Holdings chairman, said the financial relief was extended to retail and commercial tenants, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) that were experiencing unprecedented strained cash flow during the various phases of the movement control order (MCO).
He added that the compassionate initiative has helped cushion pandemic-related hardships on the tenants and encouraged business continuity, in line with Boustead Properties’ sustainability values.
At the Curve and Curve NX, they ranged from vendors, convenience stores, fashion and accessories shops, edutainment, childcare and language centres to food and beverage outlets, healthcare, pharmaceutical, dentistry and financial service providers.
On the commercial side, measures have helped to alleviate the burden of tenants at Menara Boustead, Menara Boustead Penang, Wisma Boustead and Nucleus Tower. Tenants comprised those providing legal, financial asset management, insurance, trading, travel, telecommunications, engineering, advertising, healthcare and sales services, as well as eateries, SMEs and Government agencies.
Khaled said the multiple award-winning real estate developer and investment group was cognizant that during toughest of times, they must reinvent business strategies through empathetic approaches and measures to ensure sustainability.
“This is a collective burden to be shared. The company would do what it can to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, while we look forward to the reopening of the economy and recovery phase. Ultimately, this is also aligned with the Reinventing Boustead strategy, as we expect our initiatives to contribute towards enhancing sustainability, which is central to not just our long-term business growth but that of our partners and nation as a whole,” he added.
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