Five foreign firms get JS-SEZ fast-track green light
25 Jan 2025
Five foreign direct investors have been selected to use Johor’s fast-track initiative, which reduces red tape and accelerates processes significantly, says state executive councillor Lee Ting Han.
The Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman said the pilot project involves biofuel, food processing and logistics companies in Pasir Gudang and Iskandar Puteri, while the other two are still under negotiation.
“The five projects, including those from Japan and Singapore, are in Johor. They have made their commitment to invest in the state.
“These will be announced in stages, with the earliest one – a Japanese-funded project – expected to break ground in Pasir Gudang in mid-February,” he said in an interview.
Lee said the five companies are part of a pilot project to use the Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre Johor (IMFC-J), where they can enjoy more ease of doing business in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ).
“We have discussed the matter with Singapore for the companies to test the IMFC-J and Johor Super Lane (JSL) initiatives.
“If there is a need, we will improve it further and adjust our regulatory and approval processes. We have also come up with a client charter to show the amount of time saved under the initiative,” he said.
On Nov 21 last year, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi announced that the state would standardise processes and improve the ease of doing business in the JS-SEZ with the introduction of the JSL initiative.
He said the JSL is part of the IMFC-J, which acts as a one-stop centre involving government agencies and local authorities.
According to Lee, the IMFC-J would have dedicated account managers handling the back-end processes for investors. This includes processes such as dealing with local authorities, utility providers and other licensing providers.
“For example, some processes which used to take 30 days could be reduced to just seven days while consideration for building plans, which could take up to 57 days previously, could be done in 18 days,” he said.
He added that the IMFC-J’s physical office has been set up in Forest City, Gelang Patah, and would be launched very soon.
“Moving forward, we hope that the IMFC-J will be expanded beyond just being a post office.
“We hope the Federal Government will also delegate more decision-making power to the Johor government or Iskandar Regional Development Authority, which will also attract more foreign investment,” he said.On JS-SEZ, Lee said the government intends to hold a dialogue session to promote the initiative among existing and potential investors, as well as local industry players.
He said the state hopes to invite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong to engage with businesses and further explain the opportunities available.
Source: The Star
