Indonesian company Lippo Group declared that it is not discouraged by a slump in Asian property markets and increasing financing costs, and decides to invest ten billion dollar on projects and acquisitions over the next half decade.
The group is aiming various kind of projects such as retail, residential, hospital and hotel projects, and also distressed property firms. It will allocate two-thirds of the funds to emerging markets like China and Indonesia, and the one-third in developed markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
Lippo Group President Mr. Stephen Riady said, “We are still very bullish about the market. This downturn is just part of the economic cycle, and a huge opportunity for us to expand in the next one or two years”.He said that the group is eager on rapidly modernizing Asian countries such as China and India, with their fast-growing middle-income earners eager for new homes and shopping malls.
Mr. Riady said, “Just 10% of China and India is a population of three hundred million, and that’s going to be a new middle-income market, and its equivalent to a whole United States”.
Further he said that Lippo is preparing to fund its growth mainly from internal resources such as the sale of non-core assets and listing of REITs, and will control loans from banks.