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Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called the
Johor-Singapore special economic zone a “unique initiative” that
harnesses each other's strengths and deepens linkages in a world
that is becoming more polarized.
“Very rarely you find two countries working together as a team,”
he told a joint news conference after the signing ceremony.
“These two countries have a common strategy, to assist one
another, to work and benefit from each other’s strengths... This
is the new attitude we must have other than talking always in
terms of rivalry and unnecessary conflicts.”
The zone, in Malaysia's southernmost Johor state, will offer tax
breaks and include several flagship areas for various sectors,
from manufacturing and aerospace to tourism, energy and
healthcare. Officials are targeting to attract 50 projects
within the economic zone in the first five years, creating
20,000 skilled jobs. The move is a boon to Singapore, a global
financial hub with scarce natural resources and land.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the neighbors'
strong linkages are an important foundation and building block
for an integrated region. Malaysia is the chairman this year of
the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“Where ASEAN is concerned, we are talking about not just more
trade and investment linkages, but infrastructure linkages
including the ASEAN power grid. These are all good projects that
Singapore will support and we hope under Malaysia’s leadership,
we can make good progress,” Wong said.
“The greater competition we face is not among ourselves within
ASEAN, it’s outside of the region... so ASEAN has to come
together, look at ways in which we can enhance our value
proposition and be competitive together,” he said.
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