Johor needs an equal role in planning the JSSEZ

WITH the conclusion of the Johor state elections on July 11, my hope as a former policy maker is that the federal and Johor state government can put their focus back on aligning policies to do with the Johor Singapore Special Economic Zone (JSSEZ) and related policies.

More than a year since the signing of the JSSEZ agreement by Malaysia and Singapore, it is clear to me that there needs to be some significant adjustments on the part of the federal and state governments in order to make the planning and execution of the JSSEZ a success.

One of these key elements is to make the Johor state government an equal partner in the planning and execution of these policies.

Firstly, the Johor Singapore Special Economic Zone (JSSEZ) Masterplan, which was supposed to have been announced at the end of March 2026, should be done as soon as possible, and the Johor state government should be acknowledge as an important, if not equal, partner in this masterplan.

This is to assure foreign investors that regardless of who is in power at the federal and state levels, both governments are part of the decision-making process with regards to the JSSEZ.

The federal government can still lead in some areas such as discussing government to government matters with Singapore (with the Johor state government in the room, with the ability to provide inputs on state related matters) but in other areas such as infrastructure, investments, and skills development, the Johor state government should have an equal role to play with the federal government.

One way in which this can be made clear is for there to be a JSSEZ Masterplan related implementation taskforce to keep track of the execution of this masterplan and for the equal role of the Johor state government to be incorporated into this masterplan.

Secondly, the Johor state government should also be part of the approval process for JSSEZ related investment incentives.

Right now, the investment incentive approval is purely managed as a federal matter with a representative from the Finance Ministry (usually the Treasury Secretary General or one of the Deputies) with Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) as the secretariat as well as an important member of the National Committee on Incentives (NCI) together with representatives from Bank Negara, the Internal Revenue Service (LHDN) and a few other key ministries and government agencies.

Right now, the reality is that the New Incentive Framework (NIF) which adopts a scorecard and outcome-based approach, which was announced on January 30 and started to be implemented on March 1, seems to have superseded the JSSEZ related investment incentives.

One way in which the JSSEZ related investment incentives can be made more attractive to investors without compromising the NIF is to have the Johor state government provide additional incentives to higher value investments by providing discounts on quit rent (by the land authority) and assessment (by the local council), using a similar scorecard approach of the New Inventive Framework (NIF).

This would also provide locus standi to a representative from the Johor state government from let’s say Invest Johor to sit in on the NCI meetings for JSSEZ related investment applications.

Thirdly, Putrajaya should be comfortable with naming someone from the Johor Civil Service (JCS) who is experienced and is familiar with working with the federal government to the position of CEO of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda), which is a federal government agency.

Having this practice would enhance the relationship between the federal and state governments, especially when it comes to facilitation investments not just in the Irda area but also in the JSSEZ as Irda is currently the secretariat for the Invest Malaysia Facilitation Center Johor (IMFCJ), which is currently located in Forest City. The CEO of Irda, via IMFCJ, was also the point person for addressing any teething problems faced by JSSEZ investors at the local council level.

The Irda CEO post was still vacant in early 2026 when Datuk Haji Mohd Noorazam Datuk Haji Osman was appointed as the Financial Officer of the Johor State government.

Fourthly, the Johor state government, especially at the local council level, should have a seat at the table in the planning, design and execution of the E-ART public transport project in the Greater Johor Baru area for many reasons.

There will likely be plans to turn some of the stations into public transportation hubs and it would make sense for there to be transit oriented developments (ToD) which can be planned by the Johor state government.

Some of these ToD projects can be public private partnerships involving property developers (which may include JLAND, which is part of the JCORP group, a state GLC owned by the Johor state government) and the monetisation of such ToD projects can be used to improve and enhance the E-ART project, especially if the Federal Government thinks that the current estimated costs of RM7bil is too low.

Some of these ToD locations along the E-ART stations can be opened up for tender and JVs could be proposed by Malaysian and Singapore property developers as one (or more) of the 50 iconic projects in five years under the JSSEZ.

One should recall the successful development of Marina One by Khazanah and Temasek that yielded healthy profits for both GLICs.

This deal was part and parcel of the Tanjung Pagar railway station landswap which was signed by Prime Ministers Najib and Lee Hsien Loong back in 2010.

Fifthly, both the federal and state governments should for an RTS infrastructure and traffic dispersal taskforce in the very near future to prepare to solve traffic related issues at the Bukit Chagar station in downtown Johor Baru once the RTS is in operation either at the end of this year or early next year.

There are already concerns being expressed that the infrastructure around the Bukit Chagar area is not ready to take in the estimated 10,000 travellers an hour from Johor Baru to Singapore and vice versa.

In a forum organised by Cerebrum, a JCORP think tank, earlier this year, I had proposed that the area around the RTS should be pedestrianised and beautified as a way to force passengers to walk further out so that there can be more traffic dispersal points.

A taskforce, led initially by the Menteri Besar of Johor, Onn Hafiz, with the participation of the state government, local council (MBJohor Baru) and federal agencies (such as the Transport Ministry and the Immigration authorities) should be formed to find short and medium term ways to find ways to mitigate the traffic congestion issues when the RTS starts operating.

Sixthly and finally, the federal government needs to work together with the state government to create a Greater Johor Baru Authority (GJBA), a state government entity that can take care of the infrastructure and other needs of the larger Johor Baru area such as public transportation, development, and common activities.

There are international precedents for the setting up of such an authority.

For example, London has the Great London Authority (GLA) and Manchester has the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

The current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Andy Burnham, was the inaugural mayor of Greater Manchester before stepping down to run for a parliamentary by-election which allowed him to be sworn in as PM recently.

In fact, the state of Selangor announced in 2024 that it was going to set up a Greater Klang Area administrative area for the purposes of coordinating common infrastructure and other needs involving the municipal councils of Klang, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and Petaling Jaya.

The creation of such a first of its kind greater local authority in Malaysia would allow the Greater Johor Baru area to come up with better long term plans for the infrastructure needs of this growing metropolis.

The potential of the JSSEZ remains very attractive to foreign investors and would be a game changer not just for Johor Baru or for Johor but would be a shining example of Federal and state governments aligning together to work for the common prosperity of Malaysians and our neighbours over the causeway in Singapore.

Let’s not lose this opportunity because of political disagreements at the federal and state levels between different coalitions.

Dr ONG KIAN MING

Former Deputy Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry and Adjunct Professor at Taylor’s University