JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 18 — Plans to liberalise visas including those for investors’ employment passes in certain sectors and relaxing conditions under the Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) programme will raise Johor’s appeal to investors from Singapore and other countries.
Johor State Investment, Trade and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Lee Ting Han said this will also boost Johor’s housing sector, especially with the proposal to create a Johor-Singapore special economic zone.
He added that special tax incentives for a global business services hub are also expected to energise the development of Medini within Iskandar Malaysia which focuses on this sector.
“Besides that, the proposed setting up of a special financial zone in Forest City will also benefit Johor as it will attract data processing companies servicing international financial institutions.
“In short, Budget 2024 has provided the basis for the restructuring of the national economy to raise Malaysia and Johor’s growth potential. Therefore, we need to work together to ensure plans are successfully implemented,” he told Bernama recently.
The Paloh state assembly member said Malaysia will and need to ride on several major global trends in order to be among the top global 30 largest economies as envisioned by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the launch of the New Industrial Master Plan 2030.
“Budget 2024, together with plans launched thus far, are expected to help the country realise this.
“As for Johor, we are among the states that have witnessed the transition or restructuring of the supply chain or industry in the region resulting from the US-China trade war which saw many companies accelerating the implementation of the ‘China + 1’ strategy to strengthen resilience and the stability of their supply chain,” he said.
The state government, therefore, welcomes plans by the government to introduce targeted packages, among the, tax policies and incentives to attract high-tech or high-value enterprises and to use Malaysia as their platform and operations hub.
Citing the special status given to Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex as a petrochemical and chemical hub, he said this will directly draw related industries into the area.
An Investment and Trade Coordination Action Committee was also established to report to the National Investment Council to establish a monitoring mechanism for investment or industrial projects to help cut red-tape.
“We hope the state government can be involved since the Federal and state governments have their respective jurisdictions to help realise certain projects,” said Lee.
He also said sustainable initiatives and drive to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 represent opportunities for Johor to provide various solutions for implementation to develop a low-carbon economy, including the development of solar energy, electric vehicles, hydrogen energy and related industries.
