According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Johor continues to experience a strong trend of investment from Singapore, offering companies wishing to expand their enterprises in the southern state a smooth path.
Vinothan Tulisinathzan, Director of MIDA Singapore, said “the digital economy, semiconductors, and food and beverage (F&B) companies are among the main sectors drawing investment from Singapore”.
He pointed out that there were two primary categories of investment prospects in Johor’s digital economy – namely providers of digital infrastructure and digital technologies.
Blockchains, artificial intelligence (AI), and similar technologies can be found in the digital technology provider (sector), although the data centre players are more popular in the digital infrastructure provider.
“We are being more selective in data centres to be more AI, energy efficient, and so forth. Johor has an amazing traction in attracting data centres,” he said.
Vinothan was speaking during a roundtable discussion entitled “How Johor and Singapore are reshaping cross-border investment” organised by Singapore Press Club and the Johor Economic, Tourism and Cultural Office Singapore (JETCO).
MIDA also noticed an increase in interest from Singaporean semiconductor companies, both front-end and back-end. “Above all, we can observe that Singapore-based businesses participating in the supply chain are gaining traction, and they may be tier one or tier two,” he added.
In addition, the agency saw an increase in F&B operators’ interest in extending their operations to Johor Bahru in light of the rising cost of doing business.
“We have a company that has headquarters in Singapore, but it sets up a central kitchen in Johor, and it has a halal operation, which gives the company a competitive edge to export its products in the region and even in the Middle East,” he said.
Also present at the event were Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Azfar Mohamad Mustafar and JETCO executive chairman Datuk Seri Hasni Mohammad.
