Malaysia announced on Wednesday (July 10) its plans to finalise and sign a comprehensive agreement with Singapore in September to develop a special economic zone (SEZ) between the two countries.
At a press conference following an investment forum for the SEZ, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli stated that the JS-SEZ will offer the best of both worlds, providing investors with access to Singapore's sophistication and Johor's cost and resource advantages.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/26an926j
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
At a press conference following an investment forum for the SEZ, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli stated that the JS-SEZ will offer the best of both worlds, providing investors with access to Singapore's sophistication and Johor's cost and resource advantages.
Read more at https://tinyurl.com/26an926j
WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00We have gone into some of the final legwork for JSSU. As you might have been aware, that
00:16the negotiation between the two countries are already in the final stage with the deadline
00:25for submission in September. At the same time, JOSEC government and the federal governments
00:33have been working in parallel to bring JSSU to investors around the world. Today's engagement
00:44is part and parcel of that. MBIE has been in Singapore. My visit to China was predominantly
00:54to get investors coming to JSSU. As we have shared during the session just now, I think
01:08the value proposition for international investors are obvious, with a common sense. JSSU will
01:17be able to offer the best of both worlds, with investors having access to the sophistication
01:26of Singapore, but the cost and resource advantages of Johor. Once an agreement is signed, we
01:42hope we will be able to get the early takers that will come to JSSU. We are confident looking
01:56at the interest expressed so far, that JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for
02:08investors in the next five to ten years.
03:08JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:15JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:20JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:25JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:29JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:33JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:37JSSU will be the launchpad for ASEAN market for investors in the next five to ten years.
03:51What has been the feedback from investors in terms of their requirements and hopes from
03:56the Government of Malaysia and the JSSEZ in terms of facilitating their investments in
04:02MTA?
04:03I was actually pleasantly surprised because it didn't require much effort to convince
04:12them of the value proposition. So the biggest value proposition of JSSEZ is a launchpad
04:22to ASEAN market because the world understands that ASEAN is going to be a very influential
04:32market in the next 5 to 10 years. Most likely it is poised to even overtake Europe for example
04:41as a market. So I think that value proposition sells by itself. The ask so to speak from
04:51investors, it has to be very much private driven because investment decisions are mostly
05:01done by VC and PE funds which back all these companies. And the kind of companies that
05:10we want to encourage to come and build the ecosystem in JSSEZ is precisely the high tech
05:19driven, high value content industries that we are lacking. And they are almost entirely
05:31interconnected with the PE and VC funds. And therefore I think we need to be able to remap
05:40our whole processes to keep abreast with how such businesses operate and the ecosystem
05:49in which they thrive. And those are the processes that we are looking now to make sure that
05:55it is very VC and PE friendly. And at the same time I think all the other bottlenecks
06:04that we have to do are given. We have to make sure the ease of movement of people, goods
06:11and services happen as expected. But in fact I share with the forum today that the authorities
06:23here, the financial institutions have to recalibrate our understanding of how investments are made
06:32into this world. It is no longer necessarily done as a huge part of a conglomerate's expansion
06:41plan. It is very much, very agile and therefore speed is an issue, flexibility is an issue
06:53and exit is an issue for them as well. So the last few months have been very fruitful
07:02for federal and state governments because we have been talking directly to prospective
07:07investors. And these points will be taken into account as we refine further how the
07:15JSSCZ is going to run. But certainly I think we will move away from the previous approach
07:25of focusing a lot on the infrastructure and on the plot and everything. And then selling
07:31the plots because the plot will sell by itself if you convince the investors and the ecosystem
07:37to come. They will take care of the plots and everything.
07:40Just going back on what you said earlier about September, does that mean that the negotiations
07:46have to conclude by September to be presented in time for the industry? Secondly, on Malaysia's
07:52side, have you sort of come to a point where Johor and federal government have sort of
07:57already have a framework of what will be Malaysia's proposal to bring to Singapore? And have you
08:03sort of finalised the financial incentives that you want to give to the companies?
08:08September is the signing. That is the deadline we are working on. It's an extremely tough
08:14deadline. September is actually signing. In fact, we will sign and unveil there. That's
08:21the plan now, even before the annual retreat. So because of that, Johor and federal government
08:30has finalised our ask and our framework. It was, I think, brought to Cabinet in May, if
08:41I'm not mistaken. And it was already communicated to Singapore governments. And as far as the
08:48nitty-gritty of the incentives, what is going to be offered in terms of fiscal, I think
08:59we are working in parallel. So what has been communicated to the Singapore government is
09:09the framework of the agreement and our ask from our side. We are now waiting for Singapore
09:15to come back. But all this, I think, because the structure is in place, we are confident
09:22we will be able to complete the negotiation to finalise and sign the agreement in time
09:29for the deadline. As for the specific incentive for fiscal, I'm talking about fiscal incentive
09:36for JSSCZ. All the engagements, all the workshops, all the feedback are now being incorporated.
09:48The final stage is between the various ministries and MOF and MET and State of Johor to put
09:58together a specific package for JSSCZ. And most probably, it can be announced in the
10:04budget speech. So JSSCZ, obviously, if you look at the momentum, if it's signed in September,
10:13then after that comes the budget speech. The agreements will provide the overall framework
10:20of the cooperation and commitments from both countries. But the specific of the fiscal
10:28incentive most probably will be included in the budget speech.
10:34Just to add on to YB Refugee, in terms of geographical location, I think it's being
10:40finalised, but we'll wait for the official announcement and team. Just to add on, CK,
10:48in terms of things that keep cropping up, when we meet potential investors, it's about
10:54talent, ease of doing business and also ease of movement of goods, services and people.
11:03We want to give assurance that these issues are being addressed, being discussed in a
11:08very detailed manner, so that once the SCZ is launched, inshallah, things will be a lot
11:15smoother through the JSSCZ initiative. Thank you.