KUALA LUMPUR: The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is part of Malaysia's plan to reach high income nation status between 2028 and 2029, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said.
In an exclusive interview with Channel News Asia (CNA), Rafizi said there is a need for the government to expedite economic restructuring, shifting from a commodity and manufacturingbased economy to one focused on value creation and the development of intellectual properties (IPs) to achieve its high-income nation goal.
"And for this to happen, we do need an infusion of a new wave of high tech investments. We have a good base in Penang."We have a good base in Klang Valley, but Johor is very suitable for that next engine of growth for this kind of investments. But we realise that perhaps we could do this so much better working with Singapore," he was quoted as saying.
On the decision to adopt a multi-sectoral approach, Rafizi said it reflects Asean's anticipated growth as the world's third or fourth largest economyover the next 10 to 15 years.
He said the region is poised to become not only a global manufacturing hub but also a robust consumer market with significant influence worldwide.
"If we were to just confine it to two or three industries, we may lose out, especially if the interest from the investors is a lot wider than that."So these sectors, including these nine nodes, are basically sectors and geographical locations with already existing base and strength."
"We just need to infuse and scale up newer investments into it to reach some kind of critical mass. And for that, I think it's better to pay close attention to what drives the investments rather than what we think the investment should be," he added.
Rafizi said the ambitious JS-SEZ is a manifestation of the first few steps towards a closer integration between two Asean economies, and paves the way for more integration at the Asean region.
".. because if we are able to do this, then we have better chance to realise Asean potential of this large market," he said.
Rafizi said Malaysia has established an infrastructure fund and collaborates with investors on a cluster-by-cluster basis to ensure that infrastructure development progresses simultaneously with business growth.
He added that this approach contrasts with the traditional sequential methods previously practiced in the country.
"We decided to pave the way by building infrastructure first... Everything is now fast tracked because it's built into JS-SEZ. So I think the combination of all this (and) not necessarily just a fiscal incentive in the traditional sense is what we hope will get a good approval from investors," Rafizi said.