Which Buildings Get MSC Malaysia Status Offices In 2025? Inside KL

Under the MSC Malaysia framework, two tiers of geographically qualifying areas were created:

MSC Cyber City

A Cybercity is a planned technology city which has attained the highest level of MSC status. Cybercities are endowed with full digital infrastructure, specific regulatory frameworks and a cluster of companies with MSC status. Cyberjaya, Selangor, is the original and most famous Cybercity of Malaysia. The most important urban Cybercity is the KL Sentral area, that is, the buildings that have been formally designated under the MSC Cybercity scheme in Kuala Lumpur.

MSC Cyber Centre

Cybercentre means a discrete building or collection of buildings within a defined urban area which has been designated as an MSC without any designation as a broader Cybercity. This is the category most relevant to KLCC.  Individual office towers within KLCC have been granted Cybercentre status to qualify as premises for MSC/Malaysia Digital company registration.

In practice, the difference to a tenant is negligible – both designations allow a company operating within that building to apply for and hold MSC Malaysia or Malaysia Digital status. The distinction matters more at the policy/dev level.

If your company is in any of the following sectors, being in a building that qualifies for MSC status is not just a nice-to-have — it affects your bottom line and ability to hire:

• Software development and tech products

• Financial technology (fintech) and digital payment

• Business process outsourcing (BPO) and shared service

• Digital Content Creation, Media Technology and Creative Technologies

• Cybersecurity, cloud services, data analytics

• Operators of digital marketplaces and e-commerce platforms

• Artificial intelligence and machine learning companies
  
  

MSC Malaysia status companies are entitled to income tax exemption for a qualifying period, can apply for Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) permits for foreign knowledge workers on top of the normal work permit quota and have access to MDEC’s ecosystem of funding, grants and market expansion programmes.

A KLCC-based tech company with 30 to 100 employees can save over RM500,000 to RM2 million a year in tax alone through MSC status, depending on profitability. The ability to hire foreign engineers and technical specialists without having to compete for limited general work permit allocations can be the difference between growth and stagnation in a talent-constrained market.

The official list of Cybercities and Cybercentres is maintained by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). This is based on publicly available information as at 2025 but prospective tenants should verify current designation status directly with MDEC before entering into any tenancy agreement on the basis of MSC qualification.

There are also a few clusters of Cybercentre-designated buildings in the wider KLCC corridor and city centre fringe:

KLCC Core & Immediate Vicinity

A number of buildings in the immediate KLCC vicinity have been individually designated as Cybercentres. These include commercial towers along Jalan Ampang, Jalan P Ramlee and the wider golden triangle that have sought and received individual building designations. Buildings that actively promote their MSC Cybercentre designation will usually feature it prominently in their leasing collateral and building director

The Petronas Twin Towers complex itself and the associated buildings in the KLCC development are subject to separate licensing arrangements with the KLCC developer and may be subject to different regimes of status. Prospective tenants wishing to obtain MSC status in this precinct should liaise with the KLCC Property Holdings leasing team direct and check with MDEC.

Jalan Sultan Ismail & Jalan Raja Chulan Corridor

Several existing office towers with Cybercentre status line the corridor linking the southern edge of KLCC to the wider central business district. These buildings are located adjacent to KLCC, have good access to public transport and, in some cases, lower rental rates than the KLCC core, but still maintain full MSC Cybercentre qualifying status.

MSC Cybercity - KL Sentral

KL Sentral is often the area companies look at for MSC Cybercity status, prime office space and great transit access, although not technically in the KLCC address range. KL Sentral’s Cybercity-designated buildings include several Grade A towers that are especially popular with multinationals setting up Malaysian operations or shared services centres.

The verification process for eligibility of building for MSC Malaysia or Malaysia Digital status is as follows:

First, request the official building designation certificate from the landlord or building management. A real Cybercentre will have a certificate issued by MDEC and will normally be able to furnish it immediately.

Secondly, check the building against the list of Cybercities and Cybercentres accessible to the public on the MDEC Malaysia Digital website. The list is periodically updated and is authoritative.

Third, if you are applying for MSC status for a new company you should deal directly with MDEC in the pre-application stage. Prior to signing your lease, MDEC’s client advisory team can confirm the eligibility of your shortlisted building.

Do not rely solely on a leasing agent or landlord’s verbal confirmation that a building is MSC-qualifying. Get it in writing from someone authoritative before you sign.

MSC Malaysia and Malaysia Digital status is linked to the company’s registered address and principal place of business. A company’s status is at risk if it moves from a building that qualifies as an MSC to a building that does not qualify as an MSC. Companies must be operating from a qualifying premises as a condition of ongoing status.

For companies with MSC status, the choice of office building becomes not only a commercial real estate decision but also a compliance decision. The first thing to do when you are renewing or relocating is to always check the MSC qualification status of any new premises you are considering before you look at rental rates or any other commercial terms.

The designation of MSC Cybercentre adds an actual premium to the appeal of a building to a certain category of tenant. Landlords of qualifying buildings know this and typically price accordingly. But there is still meaningful room for negotiation in a market with proven oversupply.

For MSC space in KLCC tenants should negotiate for the following concessions apart from the headline rental rate:

Fit-out rent-free periods – typically three to six months on a two-year lease in the current market

Caps on service charge escalation – important in buildings where service charges have traditionally escalated at a faster rate than rents

Including parking bay – MSC-status companies generally have a higher proportion of technical staff who drive to work

Flexibility on reinstatement – particularly important for tech companies with heavy investment in cable management, raised floors and server room infrastructure

Whether you’re after a premium Grade A tower, a mid-tier office floor or a strata unit to buy, the team at KLCC Office has the local knowledge and access to on-market and off-market listings that general portals simply can’t touch.

Visit www.klccoffice.net today to schedule a confidential, no obligation discussion with us. We are only tenant and buyer agents in the Kuala Lumpur City Centre commercial market and will give you honest, agent to agent level advice that saves you time and money. Or contact me to set earliest appointment to view your new office.

Zilla Ahmad
+60133994986
Website: www.klccoffice.com

Specialisation: KLCC commercial office – leasing, purchasing and investment

Scope of work: All Grade A, Grade B+ and strata office buildings in KLCC