This article first appeared in City & Country, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on June 24, 2019 - June 30, 2019

Central Pattana Pcl Group (CPN), Thailand’s largest mall operator, opened its first international mall, Central i-City, on June 15 in Shah Alam. The RM850 million mall sits in the heart of the golden triangle of Selangor. I-Bhd is the master developer of i-City.

Central i-City, with a gross floor area of 1.5 million sq ft, is the largest shopping mall in the capital city of Selangor and was officially opened by the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, accompanied by Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin. Also present were Datuk Menteri Besar Selangor Tuan Amirudin Shari.

The mall will be augmented by a 150,000 sq ft centralWalk retail street as well as entertainment hubs, such as Leisure Park, a convention centre and hotels.

CPN spent considerable effort researching various countries for the past five years before coming to a decision.

“We finally selected Malaysia and i-City because we saw it as the best potential growth area. We are confident that this mall, together with the other integrated components of i-City, will clearly drive i-City towards fulfilling its golden triangle vision within a decade,” said CPN president and CEO Preecha Ekkunagul in a press release.

The Selangor Menteri Besar recently identified i-City as part of Selangor’s golden triangle and foresees that the location will be a catalyst to speed up the development of the state.

According to I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong, the opening of Central i-City will continue to push boundaries, as the mall will help transform Shah Alam into a regional shopping destination.

i-City is a 72-acre freehold ultrapolis located along the Federal Highway with direct access to the flyover. Lim envisioned it as a smart city — an international business hub by day and lifestyle “haven” by night.

The development comprises corporate towers, office suites, serviced residences, hotels, data centres and the Central i-City shopping mall.

Founded in 1980, CPN’s core businesses focuses on the development of shopping complexes and other mixed-use projects.

The retail developer currently owns and manages 32 shopping centres, seven office buildings, two hotels and four residential buildings.

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