PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--More than 800 of the world’s leading real estate executives and industry experts converged on Hong Kong to divulge their insights at the annual MIPIM Asia Summit 2016, at the Grand Hyatt, Hong Kong from 29-30 November.
The Honourable Mrs Carrie Lam, Chief Secretary for Administration of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR, presented MIPIM Asia’s opening keynote, “A Hong Kong Case: Energizing Kowloon East.” The welcoming address explored the redevelopment of the former Kai Tak, Airport, Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay.
The real estate disruption case study - which took inspiration from the summit’s overriding theme “Real Estate Disruption- Take a Step Ahead”- analysed the government’s mandate to rapidly redevelop Kowloon East in order to make it welcoming to office and retail growth, while ensuring it would become a wonderful place to live, work and play for new and existing residents.
Steve Wilford, Senior Partner at Control Risks, presented the keynote “Outlook of the Global Threat Landscape and its Impact on Real Estate.” Commenting on risks that are challenging business in Asia Pacific, he said, “While Asia will remain an extremely attractive investment destination in the year ahead, we see a number of disruptive factors on the horizon – continued global uncertainty, increasing anti-globalisation sentiment, changing political paradigms and the increasing threat of terrorism – all of which have implications to business decisions across the region, including the real estate sector.”
In a “Meet the Chairmen” keynote session focussing on disruption and real estate, panellists analysed a number of topics, including how to hedge against risks in property acquisitions by using emerging technologies and diversifying tenants through mixed-use developments. The session included Patrick Ghilani, CEO, MRI Software; Dr Justin Chiu, Executive Director, Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd.; Grant Kelley, Chief Executive Office, City Developments Limited; Mark Gabbay, CEO/CIO of Asia Pacific, LaSalle Investment Management; George Hongchoy, Executive Director and CEO, Link Asset Management Limited; and Andrew Weir, Global Chair, Real Estate & Construction, KPMG.
Mr Grant Kelley, on the appeal and risk of investing in real estate opportunities China, said “You do not want to hedge your bets on any one asset class, but with the US dollar rising and the China RMB falling, investors are finding China more attractive in the near term, despite its many risks, such as its varying policies for acquisition and development.”
Numerous conferences reflected on the risk of large shopping mall projects at a time when ecommerce continues to make storefront investment less attractive, however, many noted that Hong Kong was the exception to that rule.
Dr Justin Chiu said, “Hong Kong people are divine shopping mall goers. They go there for a variety of purposes: for wine and dining, going for movies, and most importantly for the sheer enjoyment of window shopping. The traditional physical shopping experience is still deeply embedded in the mind of most shoppers here.”
Tesla’s Head of APAC Real Estate, James Kite, expanded on the same subject in a separate panel discussion, Shopping Mall 3.0. “An influx of new shopping malls in top tier cities in China are replacing older models that had poor maintenance standards which advanced their aging process.
“The premise of the modern shopping mall also needed to change. They need to offer experiences, not just retail, in order to guarantee steady, long-term foot traffic. Landlords feel the pinch of sagging retail. It is their duty to base these major commercial spaces not just on F&B anchors, but on entertainment, activity and new interactive technologies that spur offline commerce”.
Global investment risks driven by the biggest political narratives of 2016 drove a great deal of discussion at many of MIPIM Asia’s seminars, with the most commonly referenced name being US President-elect Donald Trump, with Brexit following closely.
A conference focused entirely on the two subjects, “Impact of the Political Risks on the Property Market: Examples from the UK Brexit and US Elections,” was joined by Columbia University Professor Patrice Derrington; Lee Jackson, Partner, Eversheds; Neil Robinson, Director of Global Communications, ABP; and David Shaw, Chairman of Property Steering Group, New West End Company.
Prof Patrice Derrington said, “Since we have been coming from a low interest environment which has obviously benefited the property sector, it will be interesting to see how the new US administration implements some of the more reflationary policies that were signalled during the election campaign. The upcoming Fed meeting will be an important indication to investors and developers alike.”
“If you look at Brexit prior to the vote and in the immediate aftermath, people were expecting a complete global meltdown, but within weeks the positive sentiment was back in the sense that everyone realised the world will not collapse,” Mr Lee Jacksonsaid.
Filippo Rean, Real Estate Division Director for the event host Reed MIDEM, said, “The MIPIM Asia 2016 theme of ‘Real Estate Disruption: Take a Step Ahead’ provided an abundance of distinct individual views on burgeoning disruptive factors set to influence both the real estate and retail industries.”
“This year MIPIM Asia once again brought together leading real estate players, but with the acceleration of societal and consumption changes along with digital and technological innovation, we decided to shed light on those factors and how they will impact the way real assets are conceived, built, used and traded.
“Several subthemes appeared in nearly every presenter’s agenda as key factors that will challenge global property and retail trends. Namely, the US presidential election, the growth of office and retail space-sharing and short-term leasing companies, the co-dependency between ecommerce and offline retail, and numerous worldwide economic threats By analysing these obstacles however, will bring those great opportunities to the surface,” concluded Filippo Rean.
The MIPIM Asia Summit concluded with the MIPIM Asia Awards Gala Dinner, where 36 of the best architectural projects in Asia from 2016 were recognised for excellence across 12 categories.
Notes for editors
About Reed MIDEM:
Founded in 1963, Reed MIDEM is an organiser of professional, international markets that are essential business platforms for key players in the sectors concerned. These sectors are MIPTV, MIPDOC, MIPCOM, MIP CANCUN and MIPJUNIOR for the television and digital content industries, MIDEM for music professionals, MIPIM, MIPIM Asia Summit, MIPIM UK, and MIPIM Japan for the real estate industry and MAPIC, MAPIC China Summit in Shanghai and MAPIC Italy in Milan for the retail real estate sector.
Reed MIDEM is a division of Reed Exhibitions, the world leader in event organisation, with over 500 events in 30 countries. In 2015 Reed brought together over seven million active professionals around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, and Africa and organised by 40 offices and agents located. Reed Exhibitions 43 key industrial sectors, through events for professionals and the general public, and is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a world leader in the publishing and dissemination of information. www.reedexpo.com
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