SINGAPORE: As of September this year, Iskandar Malaysia recorded a total cumulative committed investment of RM77.82 billion from various sectors.
GROWTH BOOST: Map shows a scaled-down locality plan of Iskandar Malaysia. As of September this year, the nation’s southern developmental corridor has recorded a total cumulative committed investment of RM77.82 billion from various sectors.
Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) chief executive, Ismail Ibrahim said of this total, 60 per cent (RM46.63 billion) was domestic investments with the remaining 40 per cent (RM31.19 billion) coming from overseas.
He said this was indicative of the gradual shift from a dependence on foreign investors to being a domestic enterprise-driven metropolis. The figures also reflected the confidence that domestic investors had in Iskandar Malaysia, as well as its appeal to both foreign and local investors.
He had been invited to speak at the ongoing ‘GES Business Leaders Summit 2011’, sharing his experiences and insights into the development of Iskandar Malaysia At a press conference, Ismail said he expected the RM2-billion syaria-compliant Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Financing Fund, to be established under Budget 2012, to be a significant support for SMEs in the manufacturing, services and property sectors.
He said IRDA, would remain committed to reaching out to the region for awareness and to woo new investors. Under Iskandar Malaysia’s ‘Development Roadmap – 2006-2010’ was the planning phase.
Currently, Iskandar Malaysia is in its second phase of strengthening and generating growth, the success of which had been based on the completion of key developments.
Next year has also been earmarked as the ‘tipping point’ for Iskandar Malaysia, with a number of catalytic projects in the education and tourism sectors, such as Educity and LegoLand, being completed and commencing operations.
Such developments and business ventures would require upstream and downstream support throughout their respective value chain, of which this would be where the SMEs can complete the ecosystem.
The success of the catalytic projects would help make Iskandar Malaysia more attractive for investments, and the SME Financing Fund would be a good funding support for the SMEs to participate in the regional economy.
IRDA is the regulatory authority mandated to plan, promote and facilitate the development of Iskandar Malaysia into a strong and sustainable metropolis of international standing.
Iskandar Malaysia’s development is projected to create 850,000 employment opportunities by the time the development project reaches maturity in 2025.
Since its inception, a total of 20,000 jobs have been created. — Bernama