PUTRAJAYA: Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim held a joint press conference on Tuesday (Jan 7) after witnessing the exchange of an agreement on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) at the 11th Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat in Putrajaya.
Mr Wong encouraged investors to look at the “complementarities” between Johor and Singapore as an entire ecosystem that can bring “many advantages”.
“I think there are many strengths that we can harness from both sides that will allow us to enhance our value proposition and make this (JS-SEZ) a much more competitive and attractive venue for businesses to operate from,” he said at the press conference.
“It’s not just about Singapore businesses going to Johor, but it’s about both sides working together to attract new investment projects globally.”
Mr Anwar added that the JS-SEZ was a “unique initiative” and that it was rare for two countries to be working together as a team.
“It is a rare feat, and we are now expanding this sort of sentiment and policy towards the sub-region and ASEAN as a whole,” he said.
The JS-SEZ will gun for global investments, with both countries setting sights on the creation of 20,000 skilled jobs in the first five years, Malaysia’s Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli told reporters in a briefing last Friday.
The target is to facilitate the expansion of 50 projects in the first five years and hit 100 projects in the first 10 years.
At the press conference, the two prime ministers also touched on wider bilateral relations.
Singapore and Malaysia are committed to durable and win-win outcomes on the “complex” outstanding bilateral issues involving airspace, maritime boundaries and water, even as more time is needed to resolve them, both leaders said.
The unresolved matters should not detract from their overall relationship, and bilateral cooperation must continue to deliver concrete benefits to the people of both countries, said Mr Wong.
Meanwhile, Mr Anwar said the “final settlement” of these issues should be “win-win”, and they should not detract or frustrate progress in key areas like economic, trade and energy cooperation.
The annual Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat is a platform for both leaders to set the overall direction for bilateral cooperation and to identify new ways to further enhance connectivity to deliver tangible benefits to Singaporeans and Malaysians, the Singapore Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement on Sunday.
This is Mr Wong’s first retreat since becoming prime minister in May 2024. It had originally been scheduled for Dec 8 to 9 last year but was postponed after Mr Wong tested positive for COVID-19.
