JS-SEZ a rare feat by two nations working as a team, says PM Anwar

The Star

The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is a unique and highly anticipated joint initiative between two nations, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.  Speaking at a joint press conference at Perdana Putra on Tuesday (Jan 7) alongside Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia, Anwar highlighted the significance of the collaboration.  Wong echoed Anwar’s remarks, adding that the JS-SEZ offers numerous advantages for foreign investors, strengthening its appeal as a strategic economic hub.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/3txr5p76  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00We were called as Singapore, not only as a neighbor, but a very important ally and committed

00:14to enhancing bilateral relations and we have seen various achievements in all fields of

00:20endeavor and today we have seen new measures extending beyond the traditional sort of arrangements

00:31into new areas including education, energy and a few other investments, of course Singapore

00:44remains as our number one field, bilateral investments and also in terms of trade and

00:54we look forward to enhancing this, particularly with the Johor-Singapore Economic Zone, which

01:00to me is a spectacular move within the region and of course internationally and I look forward

01:10to working well with Prime Minister Lawrence on this, how else can we help and work not

01:19only to ensure the success of Johor-Malaysia but also Singapore and jointly in the region.

01:27We both agree that bilateral cooperation must continue to deliver concrete benefits to both

01:33our peoples and that's the basis on which we worked on the Johor-Singapore SEZ or Special

01:40Economic Zone. It's an important project which will build on the complementary strengths

01:46of Singapore and Johor so that we can both be more competitive, enhance our value proposition

01:53and jointly attract more investments to our shores and by doing so it will create good

02:00jobs and more opportunities for our peoples. When negotiating the agreement, both sides

02:07have actively engaged stakeholders to ensure that the SEZ has the conditions to help our

02:12businesses grow together for the longer term. So we are confident about the SEZ and we look

02:20forward to taking it forward.

02:23My name is Madiha from SRO Awani. My question would be, what is your message to investors,

02:30especially on incentive structure? What incentives will be offered to attract investors and businesses

02:37to SEZ? Thank you.

02:44Well, our message, not just mine, I think both Prime Ministers, our message to investors

02:51is look at the complementarities between Johor and Singapore because there are many advantages

03:01in coming here and looking at this entire ecosystem. Not Johor by itself, not Singapore

03:06by itself, but as an ecosystem that complements one another. And I think there are many strengths

03:15that we can harness from both sides that will allow us to enhance our value proposition

03:22and make this a much more competitive and attractive venue for businesses to operate

03:27from.

03:28Certainly on the Singapore side, we have engaged many of our businesses and they are very keen

03:35to do more out of Johor and then to combine with their operations in Singapore. We already

03:42have existing incentives for businesses who want to expand overseas. So businesses from

03:48Singapore can tap on those incentives, market readiness programmes and grants in order to

03:54expand and have some operations in Johor that will synergise with their operations in Singapore.

04:02But in fact, I think the greater potential for the SEZ is not just about Singapore businesses

04:10going to Johor, but it's about both sides working together to attract new investment

04:17projects globally. And if we can come together, which we intend to, market the SEZ together,

04:24promote the SEZ as a combined destination, Johor-Singapore together, hopefully this will

04:31allow both of us to attract even more global investments to our respective countries, enhance

04:39the pie, expand the pie, create good jobs for both our peoples.

04:44Yes, SEZ is a unique initiative. Very rarely do you find two countries working together

04:53as a team. You can see any part of the world where two countries decide to work together,

05:04promote both countries and attract investments and we see it to be having a compact relationship.

05:13Both countries are countries led by a government that is politically stable, with clarity in

05:20economic policies, and a clear position of policy to attract investments. And not only

05:28that, but selective in the sense that investments, if you think, will affect the demands and

05:33dictates of the future. And I think that by itself is a great incentive, other than the

05:42financial incentive of the FRASAQ you're talking about, because you can see any part of the

05:49world where two countries work together as a team, it is rare. And we are now expanding

05:54this sort of sentiment and policy towards sub-region and ASEAN as a whole.

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