The making of a property giant

Deal sealed: (from left) Eco World International Bhd president and CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng, Eco World Development Group Bhd president and CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah, Choong, Eco World Development Group founder and director Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, Liew and GuocoLand CFO Richard Lai after a signing ceremony between Eco World Development Group and GuocoLand.

PETALING JAYA: When property magnate Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin introduced the deal that saw the entry of GuocoLand Ltd as a 27% shareholder in Eco World International Bhd (EWI) to a packed audience, he reminsced his association with Raymond Choong, president and CEO of the Singapore property developer.

They were bankers in Malaysia decades ago. As Liew put it, one excelled in that profession to rise through the ranks in the banking scene and the other became an entreprenuer in the property business.