Iskandar's Medini gets property tax break

[KUALA LUMPUR] Malaysia has granted a substantial tax break to a zone in a showpiece investment project near Singapore, a move likely to provide crucial support to a US$800 million initial public offering of the area's developer next year.

The Medini area in the southern state of Johor is the only section of the US$30 billion Iskandar Development Region to get an exemption from a 30 per cent property gains tax announced in October to cool soaring property prices, government officials said.

The area is being developed by Medini Iskandar Malaysia, a company that is 60 per cent owned by Iskandar Investment, a corporation controlled by sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd.