Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad today launched Malaysia's largest shopping mall after a four-year delay, saying the mammoth project would be a major boost to tourism.

Sharing a name with New York's famed Times Square as well as other malls in Tokyo and Hong Kong, the giant Berjaya Times Square owned by tycoon Vincent Tan took nine years to complete at a cost of RM1.85 billion.

With a built-up area of 7.5 million square feet in the Kuala Lumpur shopping belt, it features Asia's largest indoor theme park with an 800-meter long roller-coaster that snakes through an eight-storey atrium.

Its anchor tenant is British department store Debenhams, which opens its first store in Asia and the ninth worldwide in mid-November.

It also houses Malaysia's first IMAX 3D theatre opening early next year, some 1,000 retail shops, 100 food outlets, nine cinemas, a 56-lane bowling alley and 1,200 service suites in its two 45-storey tower blocks.

Higher development costs

The 77-year-old Mahathir, who will retire next month after 22 years in office, said the mall would create jobs for locals and draw more tourists to the country.

"This is a boost to the economy," the veteran premier said at the launching ceremony.

Tan said the project was a big challenge for him because the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s delayed it by four years, pushing development costs up to RM1.85 billion from RM1.5 billion originally.

It also led to some RM270 million in late payment claims to more than 400 purchasers of shoplots, which will be settled by issuance of new shares in a listed company, he said.

"I am happy that we did not abandon the project," Tan, who is Berjaya Group chairman and chief executive, and a long-time Mahathir ally, told reporters.

"We are in the midst of finalising this 'win-win' proposal and expect to announce the details in about two to three weeks."

The company projected revenue of US$25 million from rental and sales for the year to April 2004, he added.

The tycoon sold off part of his stake in mobile operator DiGi Telecom to raise RM250 million to save the project. His bankers matched him ringgit for ringgit, providing enough funds for completion.

PM's parting gift

Tan said he now holds some 85-90 percent of Berjaya Times Square but this would be diluted to around half when new shares were issued.

The company is also considering issuing bonds to repay bank borrowings of RM700 million, he said, without elaborating.

He said the launching of the mall was brought forward to fit the premier's busy schedule ahead of his retirement Oct 31 and only some 100 shops have so far opened their doors.

Berjaya Times Square has also sold some RM900 million, out of an estimated RM2.5 billion, worth of commercial space, he said.

Officials projected some three million visitors a month to the mall. - AFP