Hoo said these companies were most likely to be from China, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea.

These were the same countries which were also eyeing the High-Speed Rail project connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

“Big Fortune 500 companies usually look at the types of policies implemented for the project. They also look at the local market, political situation and the country’s international relations,” he told FMT.

He said companies from Singapore and the United States were unlikely to bid for the project due to the ongoing 1MDB controversy.

“Companies from the United States might not come in because of the civil action by the Department of Justice (DoJ) to recover money said to be from stolen from 1MDB.

“Singapore companies might not come in too because 1MDB’s dirty linen is being washed in Singapore,” he said.

Last week, the finance ministry issued the Request For Proposal for the role of master developer for Bandar Malaysia, a project that has been rife with controversy of late.

The finance ministry had said to ensure financial strength, an interested company or consortium must be an affiliate of a Fortune 500 company, an affiliate of a company which has generated cumulatively in the last three years no less than RM50 billion in revenue from the entire value chain of real estate and associated business; and has experience in international quality real estate development projects.

This came about after its share sale agreement (SSA) with Malaysia’s Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) lapsed.

Bandar Malaysia sits on prime real estate in Sungai Besi at the edge of downtown Kuala Lumpur. Its size of 196.7ha is five times the area of the iconic Kuala Lumpur City Centre project, together with its large park.

The project’s finances and its future have a direct bearing on the leadership of Prime Minister Najib Razak. It was Najib, who is also finance minister, who backed the setting up of 1MDB in 2009.

Hoo said as for European companies, they do not engage with companies involved with property development overseas. Saudi Arabia and the other Middle East countries are caught in their own property downturn. India is involved in development projects in the United Kingdom, he added.

He added Canada was also facing a property downturn and the companies may not be bidding for the project.

“We can also rule out oil and gas companies too because over the last three years, most of them have not been doing well.”

He said South Korean companies involved in various sectors may be keen to apply as they are involved in various projects, including property development.

Japanese companies have the cash and are likely to bid for the project, in return hoping to bid for the High Speed Rail project connecting Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Hoo said a lot of Chinese companies will be bidding for the project but might have problems transferring the cash from China to Malaysia as the Chinese government is implementing measures to control flow of capital overseas as the nation’s currency weakens against the dollar

“Most of the companies will have problems raising cash due to the Chinese government’s ruling to limit the outflow of renminbi from the country. Unless the company is super rich,” he added.

Media reports reported that China’s Alibaba group in March had said it will be involved in the so-called Digital Free Trade Zone in Kuala Lumpur, with its KL Internet City hub to be located in Bandar Malaysia.

Bandar Malaysia is the country’s biggest real estate project and has been looking for a new master developer after the government made a surprise announcement in May to cancel a deal with a Malaysia-China consortium, stating that the buyers had failed to meet payment obligations.

In late 2015, Malaysia’s Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) jointly secured rights as the master developer with a RM7.41 billion winning bid to buy a 60% stake in the project. The IWH-CREC agreement was said to be a major deal to help 1MDB reduce its heavy debt burden.

The Malaysian government, through a unit of state fund 1MDB, was to hold the remaining 40% stake, which had a projected sales value of RM150 billion.