Minister of Economy Rafizi stated that the Johor-Singapore Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) is expected to help Malaysia achieve the goal of an additional $28 billion (approximately 126 billion MYR) contribution to the annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030.
He pointed out that Johor's economy currently accounts for about 9% of the national GDP and is expected to become a competitor to the Klang Valley region in the next 5 to 10 years.
“Economic zones covering two countries are rare globally. Other economic zones typically operate within one jurisdiction.”
“Therefore, we have to coordinate many things. The process is complex, but I believe both Malaysia and Singapore teams understand the value proposition, which helps in advancing the process.”
He emphasized this during his talk on the theme “From Made in Malaysia to Created by Malaysia” at the Malaysian Economic Forum (FEM) today (9th), stating that if complementary elements with Singapore can be effectively utilized, the Johor-Singapore Economic Zone is expected to become Malaysia's new growth engine in the next decade.
In addition, Rafizi envisions Malaysia developing “Malaysia-made” chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) in the next 5 to 10 years.
He stated that Malaysia could leverage downstream industries, not just the backend of semiconductor manufacturing, to realize its industry.
“By doing this, we can not only create a new high-value economic sector that meets our needs, but also become global players, as other countries also need data centers.”
“Therefore, this is the government's long-term view on the contribution of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers to our economy.”
Rafizi noted that Malaysia is expected to become a global data center powerhouse and is keen to support it with renewable energy (RE).
He mentioned that Malaysia is completing the tender for the fifth large-scale solar project (LSS5), and LSS6 is expected to launch subsequently, further expanding renewable energy capacity rapidly.