KUALA LUMPUR shopping guide
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Some years ago, Malaysia implemented an economic plan to promote internal development and give the country a higher profile worldwide. A modern airport, the Formula One Grand Prix at the country’s striking new track and major efforts to promote tourism based on its exotic natural landscapes are just some of the successful steps taken as part of the Malaysia Truly Asia and Visit Malaysia campaigns. Economic decision-makers in Malaysia quickly cottoned on to something that their counterparts in other countries with restrictive trade regulations seem not to have realised: the importance of retail trade for the economic and tourist development of a city. As a result, Kuala Lumpur has been strongly promoted as a destination for fashion shopping, through measures such as a high-profile fashion week and major discounts on specific dates, and has thus emerged as a dynamic, fantastic city for shopping and nightlife.
The sumptuous Petronas towers, designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli, are not just impressive from the outside: on the inside they are just as striking thanks to the admirable Suria KLCC shopping centre based there. This centre features stories by leading brands such as Bally and Giorgio Armani, along with the Isetan KLCC Center, Isetan’s second store in the city. The bustling commercial heart of this humid, verdant city lies between Jalan Bukit Bintag and Jalan Hangtuah streets, an area traversed by an elevated railway. This is home to the Lot 10 Shopping Center, which features the most urban fashions, and Starhill, an exquisite mall on a par with the finest shopping centres anywhere in Asia or the USA in terms of fashion stores and fine restaurants.
The city continues to expand in commercial terms, with the opening of the Pavilion Centre in 2007 as the latest landmark event in a country that is undergoing an international boom and is well worth getting to know. |
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