JOHOR BARU: Malaysia’s abundant natural resources, halal certification standards and the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) have made the state an attractive destination for investors in food-related industries.
Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman Lee Ting Han said food processing companies from Singapore and South Korea are actively exploring expansion under the JS-SEZ initiative.
“They are looking at Johor as an alternative or as a food production hub because of our natural resources and also because of Malaysia’s halal certification standards,” he said in an interview.
Lee said the recent launch of a RM40mil joint venture between digital agri-food company Farmbyte – a subsidiary of state-owned Johor Corporation – and Singapore agri-tech firm Archisen reflects strong investor confidence in Johor as a food production hub.
“The collaboration makes the project, located in Iskandar Puteri, one of the largest vertical farming plants in the country.
“The joint venture company is actively exploring other bigger sites for the near future. The first batch of produce from the farm in Iskandar Puteri will enter the market in September,” he said.
Lee said the farm, which uses climate control technologies, would initially focus on high-value vegetables before expanding to other greens to reduce production costs and product prices.
He said that Farmbyte and Archisen would offtake the vegetables produced by the joint venture for Malaysian and Singaporean markets, respectively.
While there are no strict policies compelling foreign food companies investing in Johor to supply products to the local market to strengthen food security, Lee said that companies receiving government incentives would be subject to certain conditions to supply to the local market.
Food security is one of the 11 key economic sectors outlined in the JS-SEZ initiative.
The other sectors include logistics, manufacturing, financial services, business services, digital economy, tourism, education, health, energy and the green economy.
According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, the JS-SEZ covers 3,588sq km, comprising nine flagship zones – Johor Baru, Iskandar Puteri, Tanjung Pelepas, Tanjung Langsat-Kong Kong, Senai-Skudai, Kulai-Sedenak, Desaru-Penawar, Forest City and Pengerang.
