The RM 40 million Kota Gemilang project in Ayer Keroh is set to become the state’s premier textile hub following its opening early next year. Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam said the project would be part of the Hang Tuah Jaya Fashion City at the Malacca International Trade Centre. Kota Gemilang will have 173 units of double story shop lots.

The textile hub would offer a wide range of products including home furnishing items to attract shoppers, comprising both local people and tourists alike. He noted the response for the units have been overwhelming with 60% of non-bumiputra lots snapped up with another 40% lots remaining for bumiputras.

He said the state, via the Chief Minister Incorporated (CMI), would help local bumiputra entrepreneurs, who are keen to develop the textile industry or home furnishing. Project developer Pembinaan Rembang Kotas Managing Director Yee Ying Sung said that 80% of the project is already completed.

The Malacca Hang Tuah Jaya Fashion City would adopt a similar concept like the one in Nilai where most of the textile operators were gathered in one location and the area would have 300 parking lots for cars and 100 lots for buses.

Bumiputera or Bumiputra is a Malay term widely used in Malaysia, embracing ethnic Malays, Javanese, Bugis, Minang and occasionally other indigenous ethnic groups such as the Orang Asli in Peninsular Malaysia and the tribal peoples in Sabah and Sarawak. This term comes from the Sanskrit word Bhumiputra, which can be translated literally as "son of earth" (bhumi= earth, putra=son) or son of the soil. Economic policies designed to favour Bumiputras were implemented in the 1970s following the May 13 Incident in 1969. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).