PETALING JAYA: Iskandar Malaysia has attracted investments totalling
RM62.32bil up to June, said Iskandar Region Development Authority (Irda)
chief executive officer Ismail Ibrahim.
He said Irda had seen a strong trend year-on-year in the cumulative committed investment level.
“The cumulative investment up to June, which stood at RM62.32bil, has surpassed the 2010 target of RM47bil,” Ismail told StarBiz.
Of the total committed investments, 43% are from abroad while the balance are from Malaysia.
Ismail
said the targets would be reviewed regularly against the backdrop of
domestic, regional and global economic and investment climate.
Of
the total investments, RM24.86bil are from the manufacturing sector,
RM18.37bil from properties, RM12.81bil from utilities, tourism and
others, while RM6.28bil from the Government.
Major local
investors include Tenaga Nasional Bhd (RM1bil), Telekom Malaysia Bhd
(RM1.9bil), MMC Group (RM600mil), Iskandar Waterfront Development
(RM650mil), Port of Tanjung Pelepas (RM2.53bil), Central Malaysian
Properties Sdn Bhd (RM2.7bil), IOI Properties (RM1.5bil) and Setia Group
(RM780,000). Investments from various Malaysia manufacturing companies
accounted for RM5.65bil.
“Current results are achieved just over
43 months since the inception of Iskandar Malaysia and it reflects the
high investor confidence.
“It is also a direct result of the
relentless drive by Irda and other agencies such as Mida (Malaysian
Investment Development Authority) and Johor State Investment Centre to
promote Iskandar Malaysia locally and abroad,” Ismail said.
On
the progress of Iskandar, he said: “2010 is a year when we are beginning
to see implementation visibility on a much greater scale. We have
shared many of these latest developments with the local community during
our recent Iskandar Malaysia Open Days in Kulai and Pasir Gudang.”
Ismail
said Johor Premium Outlet was due to open in Iskandar by the second
quarter of 2011 and Legoland by 2012. EduCity’s first faculty, Newcastle
University Medical Malaysia, has started its first cohort in 2009
although its facilities in EduCity would only be completed by September
2011.
“The feedback from the community has been very positive. We
look forward to the next half of the year when we will have even more
to share,” he said.
Ismail said a proposal for a 15% personal
income-tax rate for knowledge workers in Iskandar had been detailed out
and would be tabled to the Cabinet by the year-end.
