KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 — A successful “detox” effort by the Finance Ministry to clear the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) from corruption, after it was allegedly mired in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, has regained the project’s appeal to investors, according to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng
Lim pointed out that loans totalling RM2.15 billion from banking institutions earlier this week was a testament to their confidence that the funds will be used for the right purpose under the Pakatan Harapan government.
“This is all attributed to the ‘detox’ undertaken by the ministry after taking over the reins of the government on May 9 last year.
“By quick ‘detox’ efforts comprising identifying, isolating and quarantining elements of embezzlement, abuse of power and misconduct linked to 1MDB perpetuated by leaders of the previous government, we have successfully transformed the project to be attractive to investors,” he said in a statement on his Facebook page.
Earlier this week, Australian-listed Lendlease and TRX City Sdn Bhd (TRXC), which are co-developing the Lifestyle Quarter development at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX), had secured a RM2.15 billion financing facility for a period of five years.
The financing facility was secured from the consortium of HSBC, Maybank, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp.
Lim said following the detox efforts, TRX is now a corruption-free project that has regained investors’ trust, both local and overseas.
“I believe many more investors will be attracted to the project which has the potential to become a global project with international standards after it is purged of any 1MDB issues,” he said.
The entire TRX project is slated for completion by 2024.
