Balai Ikhtisas Malaysia

The Balai Ikhtisas Malaysia is now the prowd owner of a five-storey building in Bandar Tun Razak in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. It is part of a 2 5-storey building complex and has a total floor space of 25,000 square feet. This is a tremendous achievement for BIM, compared to its meagre office in 1973 in the Drainage and Irrigation Department which it occupied for about a year.

After that it has a small office in the Commonwealth House for a year before moving to the Veterinary Division of the Ministry of Agriculture, where it was housed before moving to Bangunan BIM in Damansara Utama in February 1980 which the Centre purchased for RM240,000. Special mention should be made of the Commonwealth Foundation which gave £20,000 and Barclay's International Development Fund which gave £10,000. The rest of the money was raised by the Centre's members. The Commonwealth Foundation in
addition gave £18,000 to cover operational cost.

BIM initially intended to put up its building in Jalan Pahang after the Government allocated a plot of land office. But it was however withdrawn due to development under the Kuala Lumpur Master Plan. Instead, the Government allocated one-and-half acres land in Bandar Tun Razak.

The new building is strategically located, just 10 minutes from Kuala Lumpur city centre. It is an income generating building with office space available for rental.

Today BIM is a self-sufficient centre for its development of programmes and operating costs. BIM started in 1973 with 11 professional institutions becoming members. The number has grown to 20 representing about 37,000 Malaysian professionals.