KUALA LUMPUR-- Malaysia and Singapore announced on Tuesday the launch of a special economic zone (SEZ) in Johor, South of Malaysia with the aim to boost investment cooperation through attracting high-value investments, logistics and tourism.

The announcement came during the official visit of the Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his accompanying delegation to Malaysia to attend the annual leaders' summit with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim.
"It's an important project, we can both be more competitive, enhance our value proposition, and jointly attract more investments to our shores," said Wong in a joint press conference with his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim.

"When negotiating the agreement, both sides have actively engaged stakeholders to ensure that the SEZ has the conditions to help our businesses grow together for the longer term," he said.

On the other hand, Malaysia's Economic Minister Rafizi Ramli told reporters that the two countries are aiming to attract high-value investments into Johor in sectors ranging from manufacturing and logistics to tourism and energy transition.
"They are targeting 50 projects at the economic zone within the first five years of its inception, and the creation of 20,000 skilled jobs," he said.

Malaysia will set up and manage an infrastructure fund to support companies looking to set up there, while Singapore will create its own fund to facilitate investments and support Singaporean companies operating in Johor, Rafizi added.

It is worth mentioning that the volume of bilateral trade between Malaysia and Singapore reached USD 78.59 billion in 2024, which reflects the importance of the economic partnership between them as this initiative coincides with the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations, which enhances long-term cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore. 

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