KUALA LUMPUR: The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is a testament to Malaysia and Singapore’s shared vision of complementing each other’s strengths to drive economic progress, said Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
Amir Hamzah highlighted that the JS-SEZ represents years of collaborative effort between Malaysia and Singapore to align policies, streamline infrastructure and create a conducive environment for investment growth.
“I think it’s important to recognise this was not an overnight thing. It’s been something that both countries have been focused on; building alignment because the most important thing is to align, to agree that this is possible.
“Therefore understanding the complexities of making it work, what facilitation we can do, and the facilitation could be in terms of agreeing on priority investments that need to be done. (We try) to get the alignment done (so that it paves the way) for the next stage,” he told a Bloomberg interview with Haslinda Amin.
Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong witnessed the signing of the JS-SEZ agreement during the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Putrajaya on Jan 7.
The JS-SEZ is set to play a pivotal role in driving growth and creating jobs in 2025 as it is expected to contribute US$26 billion to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and create 100,000 skilled jobs.
Amir Hamzah highlighted Malaysia’s track record in talent development, pointing to the growth of the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector since the 1970s as an example.
“Over the years, we’ve added in TVET and tertiary training. It has created a robust talent pipeline. Now we’re trying to migrate that in terms of the same methodology into a JS-SEZ sort of methodology, and we’re putting in incentives to allow facilitation. So if you see the knowledge worker incentives that we have put in, (such as) a lower tax rate to attract knowledge workers to come to Malaysia, this will facilitate accelerated growth along the way,” he said.
JS-SEZ is strategically zoned to focus on sectors like logistics, manufacturing, digital services, leisure, and tourism with tailored incentives designed to attract targeted investments, and coalescing ecosystems to maximise economic impact.
Amir Hamzah pointed out that Malaysia’s enhanced infrastructure, including improved road and rail connectivity and the ongoing Rapid Transit System (RTS) project, is set to support the special economic zone’s rapid development and integration.
