KUALA LUMPUR: The government expects the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) to surpass its goal of creating 20,000 skilled job opportunities within the targeted five years.
Economy Minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir expressed confidence in the zone's momentum.
"So far I think we are going to (exceed the target). In terms of the 20,000 target, it can be easily achieved in three years," he told reporters at the JS-SEZ Executive Forum here on Wednesday (July 1).
Earlier, in his keynote address titled "Policy Pulse: An Interactive Conversation", Akmal Nasrullah said the early momentum for JS-SEZ is encouraging as it aims to facilitate 50 projects and create 20,000 skilled job opportunities in its first five years, with a target of 100 projects within 10 years.
However, he added that the focus remained on strong investor interest and improving the project pipeline to ensure that these translate into quality jobs and high-value projects rather than simply meet numerical targets.
"In simple terms, JS-SEZ is about turning proximity into productivity. It brings together Malaysia's industrial scale, land availability and competitive cost structure with Singapore's financial depth, global connectivity and advanced services ecosystem.
"This is the Malaysia-Singapore advantage that we want investors to see, understand and use," he said.
Additionally, Akmal Nasrullah said the operational blueprint for JS‑SEZ has been completed and approved by the Cabinet, but its official launch will be held jointly by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong.
He said the document is finalised as an operational guide and that implementation of its measures has already begun before the formal launch.
He added that the Cabinet decided the document should be unveiled by the two leaders because of its significance to bilateral cooperation.
"Although the document is operational in nature, there is room for it to be showcased at a higher level involving the two leaders.
"That is why the Cabinet decided that (both PMs) should launch the document," he said.
Akmal Nasrullah said relevant agencies have started implementing items in the blueprint, with committees established to attract and, crucially, realise investments.
Although no date has been announced for the joint launch, he stressed that the government's priority this year is execution.
He pointed out that 57% of the RM76.98bil in approved investments recorded under the JS-SEZ last year had already materialised on the ground.
Originally slated to be launched on March 30, the official Masterplan and Investment Blueprint for the JS-SEZ was postponed by the Cabinet to ensure broader alignment across federal agencies and to finalise operational and fiscal frameworks.
