Iskandar Malaysia drew RM27.22b investments in Jan-Sept 2015

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 21 — Iskandar Malaysia attracted committed investments worth RM27.22 billion between January and September this year, said Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) Chief Executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.

The economic region drew a total of RM185.34 billion in committed investments from 2006 to September 2015, with local investors accounting for 59 per cent or RM109.78 billion and foreign investors the remaining 41 per cent or RM75.56 billion.

“Of the total, realised investments in various sectors comprised 49 per cent or RM90.57 billion,” he said in a statement today.

Ismail said the top five countries investing in Iskandar Malaysia between 2006 and September this year were Singapore, China, the US, Japan and Spain.

The largest investments were in the manufacturing sector at RM52.10 billion, logistics (RM5.45 billion), tourism (RM3.10 billion), healthcare (RM2.65 billion), education (RM2.06 billion), financial services (RM0.74 billion) and creative industies (RM0.56 billion).

Other sectors that supported growth in the region were the property sector, with the residential, retail and industrial segments accounting for RM94.94 billion in committed investments, followed by utilities (RM12.64 billion), and government investments in infrastructure (RM8.99 billion) and new technologies (RM2.12 billion). — Bernama

Iskandar Malaysia Second Comprehensive Development Plan CDP

NUSAJAYA: The second Iskandar Malaysia Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) is expected to be launched at the end of the second quarter or early third quarter of this year.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority IRDA chief executive officer, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, said the second CDP was a review of the first which was launched in 2006.

He said the new CDP has been submitted to the authorities including Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

On a separate note, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim said that in the first quarter of this year, Iskandar Malaysia secured RM7.8bil in new investments, of which 64% were domestic and the rest foreign. This brings the total realised investments to RM166 billion since the growth corridor was launched in 2006.

On the incentives given to Singapore's small and medium enterprises investing in Iskandar Malaysia, he said they would depend on the types of investments.

"Also the investments, be they in the services or manufacturing sectors, must meet our terms.

"They have to be environment-friendly, capital-intensive and use less labour," he said.

Iskandar Malaysia remains on track to attract between RM25bil and RM30 bil investments this year.

This is despite the scrapping of the RM600 million China Mall trade centre project by its main developer UEM Sunrise Bhd.

The main focus over the next few years will be in the creative and logistics sectors, said Iskandar Regional Development Authority CEO Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.

He was speaking at a media briefing "Elevating Cross-border Opportunities in ASEAN and Beyond" by Standard Chartered Bank, here today. The authorities have however cautioned property developers into the "feasibility of things" by ensuring the supply matches the demand in the long run.

Malaysia’s Data Hub in Iskandar to accelerate datacentre industry growth

Multimedia Development Corporation, Performance Management and Delivery Unit , Johor Corporation and the Iskandar Regional Development Authorityhave made two key announcements on Malaysia’s cloud services and datacentre industry: Malaysia’s 2014 datacentre industry performance and the new Data Hub in Sedenak, a 700-acre area, earmarked in the Iskandar Region for local and global datacentre companies.

The announcements were officiated by YBhg Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Bin Cheek, Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia, in the presence of YBhg Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, Chief Executive Officer of PEMANDU, YBhg Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood, Chief Executive Officer of MDeC, Engku Ahmad Kamel, Director of Economics and Investment, representing IRDA and Ibrahim Bin Abdul Samad, Managing Director, Property Services, representing JCorp.

“In the data economy, creating wealth requires the skill of an alchemist. It is about selecting, sifting through, separating, combining, cleansing and purifying the almost unlimited amount of raw data to produce the ‘gold’ that provides value for businesses, people and the nation. In other words, management of this abundant resource will be key for countries and companies that aspire to surge ahead,” said YBhg Dato’ Sri Ahmad Shabery Bin Cheek.

Speaking at the press conference YBhg Senator Dato’ Sri Idris Jala, Chief Executive Officer of PEMANDU said, “Through the Economic Transformation Programme, the Data Centre industry will continue to be supported by the Government. The past five years has brought great progress in the Data Centre ecosystem, and I look forward in seeing exciting projects coming to fruition within the next five years.”

The Malaysian Cloud Services and Data Centre industry is marked by broad trends of expansion, efficiency and consolidation in 2014. The industry recorded RM795mil in revenue for 2014, a 26% growth from RM630mil in 2013. Exports grew from 7% to 18%.

Key industry sectors that contributed to the industry revenue include the federal government (29%), banking and financial (19%), and content and technology (17%).There was also growth in High-value Data Centre Services such as Managed Services that accounts for 50% of the total revenue, a 20% increase from 2013.

“Growth in the data centre industry showcases a positive development and confidence from local and global investors in Malaysia. We are targeting the industry to grow by 15% to RM915mil by end of 2015,” said YBhg. Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood.

Building on the encouraging performance results of the industry, the new Data Hub in Sedenak is set to meet the region’s rising demand for datacentre space and services. The hub is equipped with robust, state-of-the-art infrastructure; supported by high capacity power and reliable connectivity; and comes with friendly cloud and datacentre policies.

“Cloud services and data centre is a key sector identified to contribute to the national gross income. With the new Data Hub, we aim to attract high value investments from top cloud services and data centre providers to Malaysia, to further accelerate the growth of industry and position Malaysia as a world-class data hub in the region,” said YBhg Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood.

The Data Hub will create a healthy ecosystem for local businesses to scale their capabilities and competencies with knowledge sharing from established data centre players. The hub will also contribute to the development of sustainable communities where future generations can continue to thrive and expand.

YBhg Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, Chief Executive Officer of IRDA said, “We will continue to support these data centre initiatives as part of Iskandar Malaysia’s efforts to provide state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure and connectivity under our Smart City Framework.

“We would like to thank MDeC, as the lead agency developing and promoting the datacentre industry, for their advice, support and promotion of Sedenak as a prime location for the Data Hub. We are confident that our location is conducive and strategic in supporting data centre infrastructure for the Data Hub,” said YBhg Dato’ Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim, President and Chief Executive Officer of JCorp.

The Data Centre Task Force consisting of MDeC, MIDA and PEMANDU will continue to work together with Johor partners, IRDA and JCorp, to further develop the cloud services and data centre ecosystem and industry towards positioning Malaysia as a world class data hub in the region.


Source: http://www.datacentres.com/dc-news/malaysia%E2%80%99s-data-hub-iskandar-accelerate-datacentre-industry-growth

Iskandar Malaysia expects 'big' investment soon, says Mohamed Khaled Nordin

JOHOR BARU, Oct 18 — Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said Iskandar Malaysia is expected to receive another ‘big’ investment, which will continue to strengthen the region’s image as an attractive investment destination in the country.

Mohamed Khaled however declined to comment further on the investment.

“We have to wait for the announcement of the big investment as it is the federal government’s project. I expect the announcement will be made soon,” he told reporters today.

Mohamed Khaled who is also Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) joint Chairman said this after launching the Iskandar Malaysia Conference here.

He said the big investment which is now at Finance Ministry level would have spillover effects as it would also attract investments from other supporting companies to Iskandar Malaysia.

He said with the inflows of local and foreign investment, Iskandar Malaysia is expected to create 1.5 million high-income jobs in 2025.

The state government he said would ensure that the investments received by Iskandar Malaysia would be beneficial to the local residents in line with the government’s People’s Economy agenda.

Two days ago, Mohamed Khaled in a statement said Iskandar Malaysia had secured investments worth RM10 billion in the third quarter of this year, bringing the total cumulative committed investments since its inception in 2006 until September 30 this year to RM156.35 billion. — Bernama


Source: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/iskandar-malaysia-expects-big-investment-soon-says-mohamed-khaled-nordin

IRDA banking on creative segment

ISKANDAR Regional Development Authority (IRDA) sees huge potential in its creative segment via Pinewoods Iskandar Malaysia Studios (PIMS), which is expected to generate RM3.5 billion of investments within the next six years.

Since it was established in 2006, IRDA has already attracted more than RM150 billion worth of investments, but it expects sectors such as creative, logistics and tourism to begin generating bigger investments.

“The hot sectors for local investors are definitely logistics, tourism and creative industries. In fact, we expect PIMS to generate RM3.5 billion worth of total investments with 9,500 of employment opportunities between now and 2020,” said IRDA chief executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim on the sidelines of Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2014, here, yesterday.

Ismail also said Iskandar Malaysia is well on track to achieve its 2014 investment target of RM25 billion by year-end.

“We already have investments worth RM18 billion as of this month. We are confident of achieving the target by year-end. This is mostly because there are always surges of final investment decisions as companies rush to close their books and finalise next year’s plan in the final two quarters of the year.”

As for investment breakdown, 65 per cent of investments in Iskandar Malaysia are from local firms, with foreign investors making up the rest.

Ismail said he expects the investment ratio to even out organically in the future but without a designated timeline.

On 2015 Budget, Ismail said IRDA is currently in discussions with the government with regards to the firm’s budgetary needs and the outcome has so far been positive.

“Indications have been positive when it comes to the discussions. We believe the government is well aware on the importance of the budget allocation towards the ongoing development of Iskandar to its maturity in 2025,” he said.


Source: http://www.nst.com.my/node/38410

JB Revitalisation - Sungai Segget works in full swing

JOHOR BARU: THE Sungai Segget revitalisation and beautification project is progressing in its first phase of river cleaning works and underground sewage pipe works, slated to be completed by 2015.

The project is part of the Johor Baru Transformation Plan undertaken by the state government to improve the quality of river water.

The project is all the more crucial after a stretch of road, which is now the Segget Walk, was built over it six years ago.

Due to the poor sewerage system, the river conditions deteriorated, compounded by the city’s drainage system which also flows into the river and into the Johor Straits.

That had prompted the state government to embark on a major facelift along the area.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) was assigned the RM220 million project which began in July last year.

The project is divided into two phases: the first to clean up the river as well as retrofitting of centralised sewerage treatment system.

Second, to carry out flood mitigation system and river beautification works slated to complete by 2016.

This will include breaking part of Segget Walk near Jalan Wong Ah Fook to pave the way for river widening works. For this, the state government will procure several properties along the road.

IRDA advisory council member Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad told Streets the entire river work development project is slated for completion in 2017.

“The first phase is currently progressing with river cleaning works and retrofitting of the new centralised sewerage system,” said Shahrir at an event in the city centre.

Shahrir said the new sewerage system, designed to trap waste, will ensure that excess water from drains flowing into Sungai Segget would be free from rubbish and pollutants.

“The new system also has a water cleaning system which ensure that the river water stay clean,” he said.

Johor Baru City Council chief whip Datuk Yahya Jaafar said the river widening project will see a 15m width between the river banks.

However, he said the project might affect Jalan Wong Ah Fook as the existing four-lane road will have to be reduced to two lanes.

“We fear that the two-lane road will cause traffic congestion.

“We are in talks with IRDA to turn Jalan Wong Ah Fook into three lanes for better traffic flow,” he said.

Yahya added that if the roads become narrow, it will disrupt the public transport services in the city centre.



Source: www.nst.com.my/node/36539

New nodes in Iskandar Malaysia

The Federal Government recently has agreed to the creation of three more new nodes in Iskandar Malaysia with the purpose to enhance, strengthen and pushs Iskandar Malaysia development further ahead to new level. Currently Iskandar Malaysia has only one nodes, which is located at Medini in Nusajaya, Flagship B.

According to the sources told to StarBiz, the three new nodes are most likely located at the Eastern Gate Development Zone, Western Gate Development Zone and Senai-Kulai growth corridor.

The proposal was submitted by the Johor State Government and the Iskandar Regional Development Authority IRDA, and presented at a meeting held at Putrajaya chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak with Johor Menteri Besar Khaled Nordin. Based on the sources, Najib was happy with the achievements and progress of the Iskandar Malaysia developments, and has agreed and approved the creation of the three new nodes in Iskandar Malaysia.

The sources said the three new nodes would further accelerate and spearhead Iskandar Malaysia into next level to become an international metropolis by 2025 as outlined under Comprehensive Development Plan CDP. The nodes will cater for different economic activities like oil and gas, education, tourism, health, and aviation.

A node refer to an area dedicated to certain activities or developments. Privileges and benefits are given for companies or investors that having projects as outlined by Johor State Government within the nodes.

Medini is the only node in Iskandar Malaysia for current stage. Medini enjoy the benefits of non restrictions on foreigner price minimum requirements and quota on the sales of property. Medini also enjoys the benefits of exemption of the property sale tax.

New Theme Parks in Iskandar Malaysia

New Theme Parks in Iskandar Malaysia

Iskandar Malaysia IRDA CEO Iswan said recently on 8 Nov that the authority is in the progress of seeking foreign investment from Europe Theme Park and North America Theme Park players to have their businesses setup in Iskandar Malaysia. In order to balance the development at Iskandar Malaysia area, new theme park location need to be and will be located at Mersing, Desaru or Kulai.

Iswan replied after attended to Iskandar eco-tourism submit. New theme park can be setup at area outside of Iskandar Malaysia, example like Mersing because if too many theme parks located in same location, it is inappropriate in businesses context and strategy. We will make sure transport connectivity within these theme parks accessible easily and well connected.

Iskandar IRDA CEO Iswan also noted that the new theme parks targeting to adults customers given that currently Legoland and Sandrio Hello Kitty theme park already cater and targeted customers of ages from 3 years old to 11 years old. Therefore the IRDA hopes that the new theme parks to attract customers of different range of ages.

Iswan doesn’t disclose the theme parks they are negotiated with. In the current stage, Iskandar Malaysia already has Legoland from Denmark, Sandrio Hello Kitty from Japan, and the Angry Bird theme park from Finland which will be operated next year May at JBCC, Iskandar Flagship A Johor Bahru.

There do have newspaper release previously stated that Six Flag, which headquarter in America New York plan to have their first Asia theme park foray in Iskandar area. In the near future, we can expect that Iskandar Malaysia as a new Special Economic Zone in Malaysia with Johor State government dedication to transform and attract foreign direct investment to establish their businesses present here, and its strategic location next to rich and advanced country Singapore just separated by a causeway, Iskandar Malaysia will become brilliant and vibrant city in international standing. The model of Hong Kong-Shenzhen and Macau-Zhuhai will find its similarity at Singapore - Iskandar Malaysia.

Legoland Theme Park

Sanrio Hello Kitty Theme Park

Sanrio Hello Kitty Theme Park

Johor Bahru City Centre Revitalization and Rejuvenation

Johor Bahru City Centre Revitalization and Rejuvenation

Johor Bahru city centre is set to transform itself into a vibrant place under the multi billion  revitalization and rejuvenation project which is started last month. Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the rejuvenation and revitalization of Sungai Segget last month marked the start of the city centre transformation.

Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said IRDA and Johor Bahru City Council MBJB are assigned to monitor the implementation of the rejuvenation and revitalization project to make sure it could complete as scheduled.

“Johor Bahru could look forward to a new city centre when the revitalization and rehabilitation project is completed in years to come”, Mohamed Khaled said at the opening of the JB Transformation Open Day.

According to Mohamed Khaled, rehabilitation work of Sungai Segget into the new 1.2km waterway in the city would turn it into the “Gem of Johor Bahru City”, a new tourist attraction. Old and new elements would co-exist in the city centre under this transformation project. Conserving old buildings with significant historical and architectural elements is important in addition to the new developments.

Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, IRDA chief executive officer said the project would take about two years to rehabilitate and revitalize Sungai Segget into new landmark. Following of this rehabilitation of Sungai Segget is the opening of the river which flows along Jalan Wong Ah Fook in down town Johor Bahru.

Johor Bahru City Center Revitalization and Rejuvenation

Johor Bahru City Center View