ISKANDAR PUTERI, Aug 12 — The Johor government is looking to make the Forest City Special Financial Zone (SFZ) to be a part of the larger Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).

State investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman Lee Ting Han today said the proposal has been discussed internally and will be forwarded to the JS-SEZ working group.

He said the aim is to develop the area into an integrated zone for medical, tourism, education, real estate and a duty free zone, based on the Forest City master plan launched in 2016.

"This year, with the assistance coming from the federal government, we received the amendment for Forest City’s Pulau Satu to be a duty-free island.

"The announcement on Forest City’s SFZ was made by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim about a year ago where work have been ongoing since then,” Lee said in a statement issued through Forest City.

He was commenting on the possibility of the Forest City SFZ to be placed under the JS-SEZ to provide a competitive advantage in attracting foreign direct investment to Johor.

Lee said Forest City was selected to be a SFZ due to its strategic location, and wants to include the financial sector to further develop the enclave.

"Forest City’s proximity to Singapore, which is an international financial and logistic hub in the region, is an added advantage on how it can complement the island republic.

"Our focus is to assist investors into Forest City’s SFZ,” he said, adding that more soft infrastructure such as talent and connectivity were needed.

Lee described Johor’s financial industry as being quite conventional and the state government is keen to improve the state’s economic landscape by involving more advanced banking as well as capital and bond products.

He said such a move would also complement Singapore’s financial industry and there is a chance for the state government, through Forest City’s SFZ, to develop a new industry in Johor.

"The state government is expecting more details on the incentives for the SFZ to be announced by the end of August, before the signing of JS-SEZ agreement by both Malaysia and Singapore.

"We proposed for Forest City’s SFZ to be part of the JS-SEZ as both can mutually benefit each other,” he said.

Lee said that placing the Forest City SFZ under JS-SEZ would firm up Malaysia-Singapore economic ties and see investors in the republic take up office space in Johor.

"So, we are trying to develop a niche for them in Forest City. We want them to use Forest City as a launch pad for their products and to tap into international markets,” he said.

Lee also revealed that there were many industries that were keen on being a part of the SFZ, but were waiting for the announcement of incentives.

He was confident that once the incentives were announced, many from the financial industry, including foreign financial institutions, will show an immediate interest in investing in the Forest City SFZ.

In April, Anwar said Johor is expected to become the most advanced state in Malaysia in the next two years following the establishment of two special economic and financial zones

The prime minister reportedly said that the JS-SEZ and the Forest City SFZ will both drive the country’s economic growth further.

Forest City, a mixed development mega project on four artificial islands in Johor’s western waters, was announced as an SFZ in August 2023.

The designation will see more than 2832.79 hectares in Forest City allocated to the SFZ as part of foreign investment to boost the economic development of the area.