ISKANDAR PUTERI: Johor has received more than RM14.2bil of committed investments in the first six months of this year, says state executive councillor Lee Ting Han (pic).
The state investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman said the figure was based on statistics by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida).
“Of that amount, some RM3.3bil (23.5%) was from the manufacturing sector, while RM10.8bil (76.5%) was from the services sector.
“The total number of approved projects is 422, which will create 6,898 job opportunities.
“Based on such an investment trend, the government is optimistic and expects investments to continue to grow rapidly and this will be reflected in the full statistics of 2023,” he said in his winding-up speech at the state assembly in Kota Iskandar here yesterday.
Lee said the state government was looking at green technology seriously with sustainable initiatives and global net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
He said this would open an opportunity for Johor to provide various feasible solutions to develop a low-carbon economy, including the development of solar energy and related industries, electric vehicles and hydrogen energy, among others.
Lee also said that the success of hosting the Asia-Pacific Climate Week 2023, involving more than 3,800 representatives from 108 countries, showed the state government’s commitment.
“We expect more prospective investors to explore business opportunities in the green energy sector following the launch of the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR).
“Johor Sustainability Centre chairman Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad and I will be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference and COP28 in Dubai and will take this opportunity to attract investments in this sector.
“The rapid growth of the global digital economy has enabled continuous and advanced development in new technologies. This will open various opportunities for the state where digital economy is also one of the focus sectors of the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030,” he added.
Lee said with sufficient resources and a favourable environment and developed infrastructure, Johor has grown into a hub for data centres in the region.
“Invest Johor, as the state government’s main agency in matters of investment, will continue to work with all agencies to offer the best services to realise proposed projects,” he said.
Separately, state works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said 218 damaged federal roads along the Pasir Gudang Highway have been repaired.
He said the repair works cost RM27mil and the Federal Government had allocated RM198.9mil for the purpose.
Another 120 damaged roads will be repaired next year, he added.
“As for state roads, which are under the purview of the Works Department, a total of 109 damaged roads have been repaired this year,” Mohamad Fazli said in his winding-up speech.
He said that for roads under local councils, a total of 1,137 repair projects had been carried out this year.
