JS-SEZ still strong despite uncertainty over US tariffs

JS-SEZ still strong despite uncertainty over US tariffs

03 Feb 2025

The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is still in a strong position to attract foreign investment despite the global economic uncertainties sparked by the United States’ recent tariff imposition, says Lee Ting Han.

The Johor investment, trade, consumer affairs and human resources committee chairman said this is because the JS-SEZ is a platform for foreign investors to tap into the growing Asean market.

“There is uncertainty following the United States’ move to impose high tariffs on goods from Canada, Mexico and China. In my personal view, this could impact the global supply chain.

“However, it will not immediately impact the JS-SEZ as the zone is a window of opportunity for foreign investors to get into the Asean region, which has a population of almost 700 million,” he said yesterday.

On Saturday, US President Donald Trump slapped 25% tariffs on imports to the US from Mexico and Canada, and 10% for goods coming from China.

Analysts have warned that the move risks igniting a trade war and cause global economic uncertainty as the US and China are the world’s two largest economies.

Despite these concerns, Lee said the JS-SEZ continues to attract investments from western firms, including those based in the US.

He added that recently, Microsoft acquired several plots of land from two developers in Johor to expand its data centres.

“The investments made by Microsoft showed that there are tech companies not only from United States or other western countries, but also from within Asia setting up their data centres here,” he said.

According to business magazine Forbes, the plot, located within the Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park, was purchased by Microsoft Payments Malaysia, the company’s data centre arm, for RM119.8mil.

This is the company’s fourth land acquisition in Johor, which has become a hub for data centres.Lee said the US’ tariffs could inadvertently benefit Malaysia.

“Malaysia, in particular the JS-SEZ, could be at an advantage but it is still too early to tell as we need to know what kind of goods that are being imposed with high tariffs,” he said.

He also said that the state government was following the current situation closely so that they would have a clearer picture of what is expected to happen.

“The Johor government will continue to play its role in attracting more foreign investments into the state through the JS-SEZ.

“This is because our target still remains, to attract high-quality investments that will generate thousands of high-income jobs for locals,” he said.

Source: The Star