MELBOURNE, May 23 (Bernama) -- Several Mara board directors and executives, headed by its chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa were here this week to inspect two properties Mara had acquired recently, at a cost of about A$60 million, to house its students.
The 12-storey building at 746, Swanston Street, minutes away from the University of Melbourne and RMIT University, has 281 apartments, while the five-storey Dudley International House in the suburb of Caulfield, will accommodate 113 Mara students attending Monash University.
The Swanston Street building was formerly a hostel for nurses.
The Malaysian Consul-General here, Datuk Dr Mohd Rameez Yahaya told Bernama that the students appreciated Mara's commitment to their wellbeing and welfare while studying in Australia.
"Both properties are in ideal locations for the students and will eliminate accommodation worries and cut expensive travel costs," he said.
Spokesman for the Mara group, Zainal Zol said Mara had more than 1,000 students in Australia with 309 based here and more than 500 in Sydney.
He said the visiting Mara leaders were pleased with the agency's property acquisitions here.
Zainal said Australia, particularly Melbourne, had fine institutions of higher education, especially in the technical and engineering fields, areas in increasing demand in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, executives from UEM Sunrise Berhad, one of Malaysia's largest property developers and an arm of UEM Group Berhad, which is owned by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, were here to negotiate the development of two prime land parcels it had acquired in Melbourne's CBD, in LaTrobe Street and MacKenzie Street.
Led by UEM managing director, Datuk Izzaddin Idris, they met the Victorian State Planning Minister Matthew Guy, Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle and Malaysian-born Ken Ong, head of the Melbourne City Council planning committee, to brief them on the projects.
Mohd Rameez is confident that both apartment developments will go ahead, thus enhancing Malaysia's presence in Melbourne.
-- BERNAMA