PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia plans to unveil the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) blueprint in the first quarter of 2026, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
The Economy Minister said he will be meeting Singapore’s National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat, at the end of January.
“For the JS-SEZ, definitely, our plan is to unveil the blueprint within the first quarter.
“We are already arranging a meeting between me and the minister from Singapore at the end of this month,” said Akmal Nasrullah when met by reporters after giving his New Year Address to the Economy Ministry here yesterday.
Asked about the agenda of the meeting with Chee, Akmal Nasrullah said it is too early to tell.
“It is better for me to meet the minister and get an understanding between both countries,” he added.
The JS-SEZ will focus on 11 key sectors, such as manufacturing, logistics, digital economy and financial services.
It will cover Iskandar Malaysia, Forest City, Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex and Desaru, encompassing a land area of 357,128ha.
Malaysia and Singapore signed an agreement in January last year to create the JS-SEZ that targets to attract 100 projects worth RM100bil in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Akmal Nasrullah said this year will mark a shift towards policy implementation in the first year of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), which is Malaysia’s economic roadmap from 2026 to 2030.
He said the execution of 13MP will be a key performance indicator (KPI) for the Economy Ministry.
“We want execution to be our shared KPI for the secretary-general, deputy secretaries-general, directors, heads of departments, including myself and the deputy minister,” he added.
Akmal Nasrullah also said the Economy Ministry is monitoring geopolitical developments following the United States’ arrest of Venezuela’s former president, Nicolas Maduro, which saw the fall of crude oil prices recently.
“Entering 2026, geopolitics will be a challenging situation that we need to take into consideration.
“But at the same time, we need to focus on strengthening our economic deliverables, such as the 13MP and other plans, such as the JZ-SEZ,” said Akmal Nasrullah.
“I think everyone is still waiting to see the impact from that event. For the Economy Ministry, our focus is to ensure Malaysia’s plan for the next five years will take place, and we must focus on the execution,” he added.
Historically, Malaysia has been significantly dependent on oil and gas revenue, and at one point, PETRONAS revenue accounted for over 40% of Putrajaya’s total revenue.
In November last year, the Economy Ministry said the government had succeeded in reducing dependence on petroleum-related revenue to about 16.9% last year, compared to 28% in 2022.
On Saturday, US President Donald Trump announced that his country’s forces had captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, in a dramatic overnight military attack that followed months of rising tensions.
On Jan 6, Maduro was brought to a US Court, where he and his wife pleaded not guilty to drug and weapon charges.
Since Maduro’s capture on Saturday, the United States has made several announcements about Venezuela’s oil, which is the world’s largest known crude oil reserves.
On Tuesday, Trump announced that Venezuela will be “turning over” between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “sanctioned oil” to the United States.
The following day, Trump announced a deal to import up to US$2bil worth of Venezuelan crude oil.
After Trump’s announcement, crude oil prices fell on Wednesday.
Brent crude futures closed down 74 cents at US$59.96 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate Crude fell US$1.14 to US$55.99 per barrel.
