PUTRAJAYA: The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) master plan and investment blueprint is being finalised by the Economy Ministry for its expected March 30 launch, says Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir.
The Economy Minister said the blueprint would serve as public reference and the more detailed master plan would guide all implementing parties for the development of the special economic zone.
"We are finalising the blueprint and the master plan. The blue print is for public reference while the master plan is for reference by all implementing parties.
"We agreed to launch it on March 30 in Johor Baru," said Akmal during the launch of the MyRMK system on Thursday (March 12).
Akmal said the Johor government and some Singaporean ministers are expected to take part in the launch.
The JS-SEZ is a strategic cooperation initiative between Malaysia and Singapore aimed at strengthening economic integration, attracting new investment and stimulating economic growth in Malaysia's southern region.
Among the aims of the JS-SEZ is to transform Johor's economic landscape and achieve a gross domestic product of RM260bil by 2030, as well as creating over 20,000 high-skilled jobs.
Meanwhile, Akmal said Bank Negara Malaysia would continuously review Malaysia's economic growth to determine if current targets need adjustment.
He said for now, the government is maintaining the country's economic growth projections this year at between 4% and 4.5% despite ongoing geopolitical challenges and external uncertainties.
He said that while the geopolitical situation remains a primary challenge in 2026, the country's economic performance in 2025 proved its underlying resilience.
Akmal also noted that the labour market showed encouraging progress, with unemployment dropping to 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025 – the lowest recorded in 11 years.
Inflationary pressures were also kept under control, with the inflation rate moderating to 1.4% last year compared to 1.8% in 2024.
He also said the 2024 Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed the national incidences of absolute poverty had decreased to 5.1% involving around 416,000 household, and hardcore poverty shrank to 0.09%, involving about 7,200 households.
