(From left) Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, Malaysia's Minister of Economy Rafizi Ramli and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone on Jan 11, 2024. (Photo: channelnewsasia.com) The MoU was signed in Johor Bahru by Malaysia’s Minister of EconomyMohd Rafizi Ramli and Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong, in the presence of the prime ministers of the two countries.
Under the document, both countries will explore severalinitiatives that will "build towards" the SEZ, including moreexpeditious clearance of people at land checkpoints, and the facilitationof renewable energy cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore, said Singapore'sMinistry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Malaysia’s Ministry of Economy.
Malaysia and Singapore will explore measures that willsupport the special economic zone, including a passport-free QR code clearancesystem on both sides to improve the speed of clearance of people at landcheckpoints.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Malaysia'sEconomy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that the zone presents an unprecedentedopportunity and it will boost the cross-border flow of goods and people,strengthening business, and benefit the economies of both.
For his part, Singapore’s Minister for Trade andIndustry Gan Kim Yong stressed that the JS-SEZ will act as a bridge to help the twocountries exploit each other’s strengths and seize opportunities for mutual development.The two countries expect that the JS-SEZ will promote the strong growth of Johorstate and attract significant investments from Singapore to this locality.
In 2022, Johor recorded 70.6billion MYR (15.3 billion USD) worth of investments across sectors such as electricaland electronics, medical equipment, food manufacturing, and data centres.
Singapore was Johor’s second-largestforeign investor from January to June 2022, and contributed to around 70% ofJohor’s total foreign direct investment in manufacturing.
Malaysia and Singaporeare each other’s second-largest trading partners, with bilateral trade growing18.9% year on year to more than 115 billion USD in 2022. Singapore was alsoMalaysia’s top source of foreign direct investment, making up 20.5% of thetotal.
Earlier, the two primeministers also met to mark theJohor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Project reaching the 65% constructionmilestone on both sides.
Targeted to begin operation in December 2026, the RTSLink service will connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North inSingapore, with a peak capacity of up to 10,000 passengers per hour perdirection./.
