Business

Thursday October 15, 2009

Japan to promote Iskandar Malaysia

By ZAZALI MUSA


Economic corridor offers good opportunities for Japanese investors

JOHOR BARU: The Japanese government sees Iskandar Malaysia offering good opportunities for Japanese investors and companies and will take proactive measures to promote the special economic corridor to them, said Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Masahiko Horie.

The ambassador said he was impressed with the developments taking place in Iskandar Malaysia since his last visit to Johor two years ago. “A lot of projects are now being implemented and I am confident that Iskandar is moving on the right track since its launch,” he said yesterday after a short visit to the state.

“The global economy is now on the road to recovery after a year of recession, including Japan, and now is the best time for Japanese investors to start going places.”

Iskandar Malaysia, covering an area of 2,217 sq km, was launched on Nov 4, 2006, and became the first economic growth corridor to be launched in the country.

Horie said Japanese investors could participate in the five flagship development zones of Iskandar – Johor Baru City Centre, Nusajaya, Western Gate Development, Eastern Gate Development and Senai-Skudai.

He noted that Iskandar Regional Development Authority wanted to see more participation from Japanese investors in health services, educational services, tourism, information and communications technology, and creative industries.

Demand for electrical and electronics products by Japanese multinational corporations (MNCs) based in Malaysia had now returned after being affected by the global economic slowdown, Horie said.

He added that most of the MNCs were having problems fulfilling orders as they were short of production staff due to the new ruling on hiring foreign workers, noting that like other foreign MNCs, Japanese manufacturers in Malaysia had to depend on foreign workers.

Horie said apart from the electrical and electronics sector, Johor could attract more Japanese companies which produced environmentally-friendly products to set up operations here.

“We hope to see more joint ventures between Malaysian and Japanese companies in the biotechnologies or the eco-friendly sectors,” he said. There are now 140 Japanese MNCs operating in Johor, half of which are in the electrical and electronics sector.

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