This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 27, 2019 - April 2, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: The disposal of a tower building in Hong Kong that houses the Consulate-General of Malaysia’s office was actually proposed during the previous administration, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng told the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

The sale was initially proposed to be undertaken via direct negotiations at the price of RM1.1 billion, he said, a lower price compared with the RM1.6 billion price tag that has now been achieved via open tender under the Pakatan Harapan government.

“The decision to dispose of  [the building which houses] the Malaysian Consulate in Hong Kong was made by MP (member of parliament) Pekan (former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak) himself during the Barisan Nasional administration,” said Guan Eng.

“The offer letter was issued by himself. This was because the cost to repair the building was at RM300 million. Because of that, the decision by [Najib] was to dispose of the building. But the decision was [to undertake the disposal via] direct negotiations, [to sell it at the] price of RM1.1 billion,” said Guan Eng.

He was commenting on recent news reports about the 28-storey tower located along the Glouchester Rd in Wanchai, Hong Kong, which houses several Malaysian government agencies’ offices.

News reports stated that the Malaysian government planned to sell the building for HK$3.1 billion or nearly RM1.6 billion. China Evergrande Group is reportedly in talks to acquire the building.

Though Guan Eng confirmed the offer for sale that is now to be undertaken by the Pakatan government, he did not reveal the identity of the buyer.