To ease the movement of people and goods, Malaysia will enhance its existing passes such as the DE Rantau Nomad Pass for qualified foreign digital nomads. Local transport links in Singapore and Malaysia will also be strengthened. To attract talent to work in the JS-SEZ, industry-ready skills training and education programmes will be enhanced. Malaysia will establish the Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre – Johor to act as a one-stop centre in facilitating investments and businesses in the JS-SEZ. Both countries will also look into enhancing market access of financial institutions. Malaysia will provide a tax incentive package, which includes a special corporate tax rate for companies that make new investments in high-growth and high-value-added activities within the JS-SEZ. Both countries will also work towards refreshing the Joint Ministerial Committee for Iskandar Malaysia to support the ambition and implementation of the JS-SEZ. In addition, the joint committee will reinforce bilateral cooperation in other areas like transport and the environment. Several early initiatives have already been launched based on business feedback, including passport-free QR code clearance at Singapore’s land checkpoints with Malaysia since March 2024. The JS-SEZ was officially announced in October 2023 during Mr Anwar’s visit to Singapore for the 10th Leaders’ Retreat. Singapore and Malaysia had inked a memorandum of understanding in January 2024, targeting a deal by the end of the year. In July 2024, Malaysian Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said the final agreement was expected to be inked in September. This, however, did not materialise as negotiations continued over several sticking points. Besides the agreement on the JS-SEZ, both sides also exchanged six MOUs at the Leaders’ Retreat to boost cooperation in areas such as higher education and urban development. The retreat began on Jan 6 with Mr Anwar hosting PM Wong to dinner at Rumah Tangsi. PM Wong had an audience with Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, at Istana Negara before an official welcome ceremony and a delegation meeting at the Perdana Putra complex. The joint press conference was followed by an official delegation lunch. In an interview with the Singapore media to wrap up his visit, PM Wong said the agreement, which sets out the broad parameters for the JS-SEZ, was just the beginning. “How far we can go in terms of making the SEZ a success, really, in the end depends on businesses and how businesses respond. “As far as we can see, there’s a lot of interest on the Singapore side,” he said. PM Wong believes businesses will respond positively when the implementation details work well. They will start thinking of ways to configure their operations to capitalise on the strengths of both Johor and Singapore, he added. “Some parts can be done in Johor, some parts can be done in Singapore, but you operate seamlessly between the two entities, and you are able to synergise much more effectively,” he said. The bigger attraction is attracting new investments, which will be a big plus for both sides, he said. Along the way, there will be areas that can be improved on, he added. “And so we also need some degree of responsiveness to continuous feedback from the business community.” He said: “And both sides are committed to doing so – engaging the business community closely, working closely with them, and tracking progress in terms of new investments, new jobs created.” (ICE KUALA LUMPUR)

Fonte notizia: 14 Gennaio 2025