Singapore still top foreign investor in Iskandar Malaysia with RM11 bln committed investments

Singapore continues to be the top foreign investor in Iskandar Malaysia with committed investments of RM11 billion up to April this year. Iskandar Regional Development Authority Chief Executive, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, said from 2006 up to end-April, the economic corridor has attracted a total of RM138.61 billion in committed investments, of which 45 per cent of them had been realised. "Singapore is currently the highest foreign investor in Iskandar. We are looking at creative industry, other manufacturing activities, oleochemicals, logistics and food agriculture processing. "We will be making the announcement when the time comes," he said when asked on other new investments in the pipeline. Ismail told reporters this after the groundbreaking ceremony for Nusajaya Tech Park here today. Meanwhile, Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said the joint-venture project between UEM Sunrise Bhd and Ascendas Pte Ltd was a testimony to the long bilateral relationship between the two countries. "This will bring about closer cooperation. The park will also be among the key drivers for growth for Iskandar Malaysia moving forward," he said, adding that it would result in spin-off activities and win-win collaborations between the two countries. He said Iskandar Malaysia continued to drive strong interest from foreign investors, especially Singaporean companies, due to its proximity and strategic location to ports and airports. Until December last year, 969 manufacturing projects had been implemented in Iskandar Malaysia with investments of RM46 billion, of which 75 per cent of them were foreign investments. Meanwhile, Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister, Lim Hng Kiang, in his speech earlier, said Iskandar Malaysia was strategically important for both countries as it not only contributed to greater cooperation between Malaysia and Singapore but also the integration of both economies. In the morning, Mustapa and Lim held bilateral talk for an hour, discussing the progress of the two countries' Industrial Cooperation Working Group as well as regional issues such as Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership and Asean Economic Community.