Forest City is a controversial property development in the Straits of Johor comprising four artificial islands on reclaimed land, spanning 30 sq km. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: The government has been urged to act fast to boost Forest City’s status as a special financial zone (SFZ), preventing it from losing ground to neighbouring countries aiming for the “same slice of the pie”.
According to SME Association of South Johor founding president Teh Kee Sin, Asean countries like Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand were actively looking for more foreign investments in their countries.
“Therefore, Malaysia should act fast and offer incentives to lure these investments, especially high-net-worth individuals,” he said.
Teh said Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had mentioned giving incentives and seeing the redevelopment of Forest City, which started in 2015 involving a development area of over 2,833 hectares.
“Therefore, do it fast as it will stimulate development and have spillover effects, especially in providing opportunities for SMEs,” he told Bernama recently.
Teh added that previously the development was “politicised by outsiders”, resulting in foreigners being afraid to invest due to what they considered a “flip-flop policy”.
Meanwhile, Tun Hussein Onn University department of business management lecturer Maimunah Ali said the announcement regarding the creation of SFZ had taken into account the synergy between Singapore and Johor, especially the Iskandar region.
“It aims to increase foreign investment and boost economic development in the Forest City area since it has been hit by negative perspectives in recent years,” she said.
Maimunah said the economic spillover from the incentives can be seen as it will be relatively cheaper to conduct economic activities there compared to Singapore and other areas in Malaysia.
“With the reduction of operating costs, more economic sectors can be developed and there will be more job opportunities, especially for sectors that require high skills.
Furthermore, she said the 15% tax incentive given to skilled workers will open new industrial sectors, especially in areas such as new energy and data centres.
Maimunah noted the infrastructure in Forest City has been fully completed to support the growing population and industrial expansion.
“Moreover, the government can give other incentives to Johor, such as policies to encourage new industries for high technology and new energy as well as incentives for new innovation efforts,” she added.
She also said the tourism, real estate, education and health sectors are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of the initiative.
Forest City vice-president Syarul Izam Sarifudin said the project is now in phase two of its development and is poised to create more investment opportunities.
“The announcement made by the prime minister will benefit Johor and the regional economy as a whole. We are looking forward to a long-lasting and successful collaboration,” he said.
On Aug 25, Anwar announced that the zone as well as several other incentives would be created in Forest City as part of the government’s efforts to boost economic activity in Johor and its surrounding areas.
Forest City is a controversial property development in the Straits of Johor comprising four artificial islands on reclaimed land, spanning 30 sq km.
It is a joint venture between the Country Garden Group of China and Esplanade Danga 88 Sdn Bhd, a private company backed by the Johor government and the sultan of Johor.