PASIR GUDANG: The World Cities Summit (WCS) in Singapore will be a good platform for all city councils in Johor to gain knowledge that will be useful for the Greater Johor Baru agenda.
Pasir Gudang City Council (MBPG) mayor Datuk Asman Shah Abd Rahman said the summit would be held from Sunday (July 31) to Wednesday (Aug 3) at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Marina Bay Sands in the island nation.
He said this would provide an opportunity for the mayors to gather information and adopt those that could be developed in the district of Johor Baru.
"The Johor government is sending mayors from MBPG, Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) and Iskandar Puteri City Council (MBIP) while Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) will be represented by its president.
"Singapore is well known for its development and we hope that we can use this summit to gather information on their current and future city planning and development," he said when met after chairing the MBPG monthly meeting here on Sunday.
Asman added that Malaysia and Singapore have almost similar socio-economic backgrounds and a multi-cultural population.
"The difference is that we are about 20 years behind and we hope that attending this summit can shed some light on some of the developments that could help us bridge that gap.
"The mayors are also looking forward to working with the Singapore government on strengthening the Greater Johor Baru agenda," he said.
Greater Johor Baru refers to the state's plan to standardise the three southern Johor city councils and one municipal council.
State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor was earlier reported as saying that the plan would involve MBJB, MBIP, MBPG and MPKu.
"We hope by merging these important areas, we will be able to improve administration, including in terms of licensing and tax collection.
"We will also improve the landscape in these areas to attract not only visitors but also investors to the state in line with our efforts to make the Greater Johor Baru area into a world-class city," he said.