Johor-Singapore SEZ a ‘big plus’ for firms to tap both sides’ different strengths: PM Wong

Firms that wish to undertake major projects in business-friendly Singapore but run into challenges will find the special economic zone in Johor a “big plus”, Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Tuesday (7 Jan).

The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) will allow these companies, for instance, to tap Singapore’s strengths in areas such as research and development (R&D) as well as Johor’s strengths in having abundant land, said Mr Wong.

“That, I think, (is) a big plus, potentially, if the whole idea of an SEZ will make it even more attractive for new investors to come and say, ‘Look, I have a big project I would like to do. In the past, (it was) very hard to do it all in Singapore. But now, with Singapore and Johor, I can start to configure the operations.’”

He noted that besides R&D, Singapore has strengths in other areas such as higher-end advanced manufacturing.

“Some of the other parts which (are) different – different value propositions – which we don’t have strengths in, but Johor has strengths in, which take up more land, for example, perhaps (these are) more competitive, more attractive in Johor.”

Mr Wong was speaking to Singapore media after witnessing with Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim the exchange of an agreement on the JS-SEZ, which aims to woo high-value investments and create skilled jobs to boost economic growth in both countries.

Mr Anwar had hosted Mr Wong for a two-day Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Putrajaya.

Mr Wong called the JS-SEZ agreement “a good one between both sides”, although he warned that this was just the beginning and that the zone’s success depends on how businesses respond to the initiatives in place.

Both governments will also need to have some “degree of responsiveness to continuous feedback from the business community”, and closely track progress in terms of new investments and jobs created, he said.

Assuming that both sides work out the implementation details well, including aspects like the freer flow of goods, people, and data, Mr Wong thinks that businesses will “respond positively”.

“And from as far as we can see, there’s a lot of interest on the Singapore side. I mean, we have not engaged in Malaysian businesses, but when we engage Singapore businesses, there is a lot of interest,” he said.

Despite that, Mr Wong said the JS-SEZ will not only target existing businesses in Singapore, but also investments from around the globe.

“The even bigger attraction to us is not just about existing Singapore businesses. That’s just optimisation of configuration of an existing operation,” he added. “What we hope to do is to attract new investments.”


Source: https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/business-insights/insights/johor-singapore-sez-a-big-plus-for-firms-to-tap-both-sides-different-strengths-pm-wong.html