(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 Economy Mohd 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 several initiatives that will "build towards" the SEZ, including more expeditious clearance of people at land checkpoints, and the facilitation of renewable energy cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore, said Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) and Malaysia’s Ministry of Economy.
Malaysia and Singapore will explore measures that will support the special economic zone, including a passport-free QR code clearance system on both sides to improve the speed of clearance of people at land checkpoints.
Speaking after the signing ceremony, Malaysia's Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said that the zone presents an unprecedented opportunity 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 and Industry Gan Kim Yong stressed that the JS-SEZ will act as a bridge to help the two countries 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 Johor state and attract significant investments from Singapore to this locality.
In 2022, Johor recorded 70.6 billion MYR (15.3 billion USD) worth of investments across sectors such as electrical and electronics, medical equipment, food manufacturing, and data centres.
Singapore was Johor’s second-largest foreign investor from January to June 2022, and contributed to around 70% of Johor’s total foreign direct investment in manufacturing.
Malaysia and Singapore are each other’s second-largest trading partners, with bilateral trade growing 18.9% year on year to more than 115 billion USD in 2022. Singapore was also Malaysia’s top source of foreign direct investment, making up 20.5% of the total.
Earlier, the two prime ministers also met to mark the Johor Bahru-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Project reaching the 65% construction milestone on both sides.
Targeted to begin operation in December 2026, the RTS Link service will connect Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru to Woodlands North in Singapore, with a peak capacity of up to 10,000 passengers per hour per direction./.
