Shah Alam was established in 1963 to develop it into a new Selangor administrative centre.

 

The name was chosen by the late Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah, who wanted the district to be named after his father, Sultan Alam Shah.

 

Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, Sultan of Selangor, had the vision 10 years ago to recognise the necessity of transforming the State's capital city, Shah Alam, into a global arena in order to attract foreign businesses and brands.

 

As a result, Shah Alam has changed from a sleepy neighbourhood to a dynamic modern international city today.

 

Today, Shah Alam is home to many large multinational enterprises, prestigious universities, well-known brands, and a sizeable working population, including expats.

 

The first development to obtain royal patronage in the capital city of Shah Alam was i-City, Malaysia No 1 Technology City.

 

Sultan Sharafuddin accorded i-City an international zone in 2008. With its status as an international zone, i-City was able to attract foreign investors, international brand names, and MNCs, among many others.  

 

On July 11, 2011, a tripartite management agreement was signed by the Selangor State government, Majlis Bandaraya Shah Alam, and i-City, allowing the latter to engage in leisure, night tourism, and other activities related to a cosmopolitan lifestyle.

 

The state wanted to improve i-City's appeal to foreign investors by implementing green building and energy-saving techniques, as well as ensuring that it complemented the IT infrastructure.

 

The deal establishes i-City as a global venue for events, visitors, and investors. It is also consistent with the State government's plan for i-City to serve as the engine that transforms Shah Alam into a world-class destination that draws both visitors and knowledge workers.

 

The main developer of i-City is I-Berhad, which also fully owns a few of the properties that have attracted illustrious names in the hospitality sector like DoubleTree by Hilton and Best Western.

 

Additionally, it entirely owns Mercu Maybank, the Grade-A-GBI certified corporate tower with Maybank as its anchor tenant. Fortune 500 firms and multinational corporations are also tenants.

 

I-Berhad also fully owns the Tier-3 certified data centre in i-City, which is connected to the community's super artificial intelligence (AI) and dual-fibre network and offers the mother of all internet.

 

New hyperscale data centres are now being developed to accommodate the anticipated increase in demand for cloud computing services and big data processing.

 

Mercu Maybank and DoubleTree by Hilton are located at the RM1.5 billion i-City Finance Avenue, which connects to the Central i-City shopping centre. Along with the 2,000-seat international conference centre, it also contains the BeCentral service apartments, luxury offices/retail, and experience centres that will soon open.

 

I-Berhad partnered with Thailand's Central Pattana Group for retail. The largest mall owner in Thailand chose to open Central i-City Mall as its first international investment, and it now owns 60 per of the shopping centre, with I-Berhad owning the other 40 per cent. The mall is currently managed by the Thai partner as well.

 

I-Berhad is also the sole owner of the 150,000 square foot CentralWalk in i-City, the lifestyle and edutainment hub, as well as the leisure park.

 

The next stage of development would involve technology used in finance, and possibly the proliferation of Super Apps, in order to stay on the cutting edge of fintech and other developing trends in technology and future-proof the growth of i-City.