Johor Welfare Department rescued 18 children forced to be street peddlers so far this year. — Filepic
ISKANDAR PUTERI: The state government is considering bringing in drone-related industry investment into Johor in line with the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0).
Johor international trade, investment and utilities committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse said the move was in line with the Federal Government’s aim to make Malaysia a hub for drones in Asia.
“We have communicated this to industry players from the United States and Europe, ” he said during the state assembly sitting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail here yesterday. Puah, who is also Bukit Batu assemblyman, said this in his reply to Abd Taib Abu Bakar (BN-Machap) who wanted to know about the Johor government’s plans to bring in new investments into the state.
He said his committee would discuss the plans with Malaysia Digital Economy Council (MDEC) on how Johor could help promote the sector.
Puah said the drone technology sector was estimated to be worth RM523.7bil by the year 2025.
“For a very long time, Johor has been the main state for investments, in particular the petrochemical sector.
“The manufacturing sector in the state has been contributing 35% to the total investment value for Malaysia since five years ago.
“However, in present times, we want more investments like digital entrepreneurship and those that are service-related, ” he said.
Puah said besides the drone-related industry, Johor would also focus on the halal sector, blockchain technology and many others.
He said the halal sector not only involved food but also cosmetics, pharmaceutical products as well as logistics.
“Blockchain is a future industry technology incorporating database and cryptography to make business transactions and data analysis faster, safer and cost saving.
“Blockchain is a hot topic in Asia now and we must look ahead and connect it with the industrial revolution that is taking place, ” said Puah.
Another matter discussed was the state government’s decision to lower the ceiling price for foreigners to buy a property here from RM1mil to RM600,000 and how it would not cause competition among local buyers.
Johor housing, communication and multimedia committee chairman Dzulkefly Ahmad said only strata-type properties with Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) for more than nine months were available for foreigners.
“There is a possibility that the CCC might be longer than the said period if the sale was made by the developer during construction.
“This means such properties have been offered for a long period of time but there was no interest from local buyers. As such the issue of competition should not arise, ” he said.
The Kota Iskandar assemblyman said this in his reply to questions from Tan Hong Pin (PH-Skudai), K. Raven Kumar (BN-Tenggaroh), Dr Sulaiman Mohd Nor (PH-Kemelah), Hahasrin Hashim (BN-Panti) and Chew Chong Sin (PH-Mengkibol).
Recently, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal, when tabling state Budget 2020, announced the decision to overcome the problem of a high number of unsold properties.
Dzulkefly stressed that the policy was subject to stringent requirements, which was effective from Jan 1,2020 to Sept 30,2020.
“This means that when the campaign period ends on Sept 30 next year, the minimum price for foreign ownership will revert to its original RM1mil, ” he said, adding that other initiatives included raising the levy for foreign ownership from 2% or RM20,000 or whichever is higher to 5% or RM30,000 or whichever is higher.
Dzulkefly said the case of a big number of unsold properties in Johor was due to a mismatch between developers and demand from housebuyers.
He said the move should not be seen as a signal to developers to continue building high-end properties in the state.
“We do not want developers to think that every time there is a property glut, the government will intervene and conduct a bail out.
“The incentive is only offered for multi-storey properties such as apartments, condominiums, serviced apartments and small office home office (SOHO) and does not include landed property, ” he said.
He said based on the National Property Information Centre, there were 46,539 unsold units worth RM30.7bil in Johor as of June.
Meanwhile, state tourism, women, family and community development committee chairman Liow Cai Tung said the government had taken steps to stop the exploitation of children in the state.
She said Johor Welfare Department (JKM) had rescued 18 children forced to become street peddlers this year.
Liow said this in her reply to Mohd Izhar Ahmad (PH-Larkin) who asked about the state government’s approach to stop child exploitation.
The Johor Jaya assemblyman said the department also solved other complaints pertaining to children.
She said based on statistics from Talian Kasih, between January to November, about 63 children-related complaints were received.
She said action was taken under Section 17(1)(k) of the Child Act 2001 against the offenders.
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