Local firms move operations to Iskandar Malaysia to save cost

Published in Channelnewsasia on 24th September 2012

SINGAPORE: More than 3,500 Singapore businesses have set up shop across the causeway in Iskandar Malaysia over the past six years, with a cumulative investment of more than RM5 billion as at June 2012.

Iskandar Malaysia is a special economic zone in Johor, Malaysia that was launched in 2006. It covers an area of 2,217 square kilometers and is administered by the Iskandar Regional Development Authority, a Malaysian Federal government statutory body.

Over 70 per cent of the businesses are small and medium enterprises.

Fishing equipment supplier Hong Guan started operations in its Iskandar warehouse in May.

Twice as large as its warehouse in Singapore, Hong Guan's 14,800 square feet freehold space cost about S$900,000.

Its local warehouse will shut down next month.

Hong Guan's managing director, Lee Seng Shoy, said: "Singapore will always be our HQ and the brain centre but from a business point of view, we need to be competitive and cost is always a factor. We foresee Iskandar helping us contain our costs and that is something we're leveraging on so we hope that by moving to Iskandar on the logistics side, we are actually enjoying the best of both worlds."

Similarly, Global Capital & Development wants to replicate on a larger scale in Medini, a core development zone in the Iskandar Development Region.

Global Capital & Development, the developer of Medini, is supported by a consortium which includes the Khazanah-backed Iskandar Investment Berhad.

It hopes companies in Singapore and Medini can work together as a single entity to bid for projects.

Global Capital & Development's CEO, Keith Martin, said: "We have Pinewood Malaysia Studios, Medini Media Village and straightaway we went and spoke to the Media Development Authority of Singapore and Mediapolis in Singapore. If you now add up the sum of those parts, it's a much greater proposition. And within a one hour driving radius, we have everything we need to take a TV or film production from a draft script to a full finished product."

With increasing business activity in Iskandar, other firms are moving in with the aim of gaining first-mover advantage.

Shanker Iyer, Chairman, The Iyer Practice's chairman, Shanker Iyer, said: "We think it could be two or three years before this place really starts to get up and running. Initially our main activity would be to offshore some of our less important activities from Singapore to Iskandar. That is actually becoming a need now, because the rising cost of doing business in Singapore, the immigration challenges now, the reduction in S-passes - it's beginning to affect firms like us."

But most acknowledged that concerns remain, such as crime, and the lack of a critical mass of human capital and supporting businesses.
But the authorities are confident the situation will improve.

Iskandar Regional Development Authority's chief executive, Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, said: "As we have seen today, there has been increased bilateral ties between Malaysia and Singapore, and from which the greatest beneficiary is definitely going to be Iskandar Malaysia. We would like to create an environment where both Singapore and Iskandar will see themselves as one destination, not only for investment but for people to work as well as other offerings."

Into its sixth year of development, the Iskandar region in Johor, Malaysia has seen annual investment growth of 8 per cent with Singapore firms accounting for 5 per cent of total foreign investment.

- CNA/ck

LEGOLAND is on track for launch!

Looks like everything is set for a great launch!

You may visit their official site @ http://www.legoland.com.my

Crescendo plans RM2.5b township in Johor

http://www.starproperty.my/
By Zazali Musa
Published on 22nd August 2011

JOHOR BARU: Crescendo Corp Bhd (CCB) is set to launch its new mixed development property project, Bandar Cemerlang township with a gross development value (GDV) of RM2.5bil by the year-end.

Chairman and managing director Gooi Seong Lim said the project would keep the company busy for the next 12 to 15 years.

Once completed, he said the township would have about 15,000 units of mixed residential and commercial properties, of which 90% residential and 10% commercial properties.

The township spans on a 562.51ha site, whereby 349.64ha is located in Mukim Tebrau of the Johor Baru district and 212.86ha in the Kota Tinggi district.

“The completion of the Johor Baru-Kota Tinggi highway in June this year will definitely improve accessibility and connectivity to our project,” Gooi told StarBiz recently. He expects the unique location of the township within Johor Baru and Kota Tinggi districts to be a strong selling point to attract prospective buyers.

“We also see demand for properties in Kota Tinggi is on the upward trend in the recent years due to the district’s close proximity to Johor Baru,” he added.

Similarly, he said the company’s on-going Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park (NCIP) in Nusajaya would continue to perform well due to its strategic location to the Second Link crossing.

He said: “We are expecting the relocation of medium-sized enterprises from Singapore to NCIP due to lower land cost, cheaper labour and utility costs as well as better control given the park’s close proximity to their base in Singapore.”

So far, 63.97ha of the park’s 213.26ha site had been developed, Gooi said adding the company would take about five years to develop the entire industrial park with a GDV of RM1.5bil.

He said Singapore investors currently represented about 44% of industrialists operating at NCIP followed by Malaysians (34%), Germany (6%), the United States (15%) and South Korea (1%).

“We expects NCIP and Bandar Cemerlang to be the main contributors to the company’s future earnings in the next few years,’’ said Gooi.

For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2011, Crescendo recorded RM39.43mil net profit on RM215.22mil revenue against RM19.35mil and RM160.32mil respectively in the previous financial year.

Ghani: Government confident Iskandar can achieve its 6% growth

By ZAZALI MUSA
Published on 17th August 2011
http://thestar.com.my/

NUSAJAYA: New investments flowing into Iskandar Malaysia are unlikely to be affected by the debt crisis plaguing the United States and certain European Union countries.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said in fact the Government was quite confident that Iskandar Malaysia would achieve its six per cent gross domestic growth (GDP) this year.

He said based on the investment flow patterns received by Iskandar Malaysia since its inception on Nov 4, 2006, the country’s first economic growth corridor was moving on a right direction.

“In the last two years, there seems to be a strong interest especially from domestic investors to invest in all economic activities within Iskandar Malaysia,’’ Abdul Ghani told a press conference recently.

He said up to the first-quarter of the year, Iskandar Malaysia has attracted RM3.76bil new investment, bringing the total committed investments to RM73.24bil since 2006.

Of the total 73.24bil, RM43.29bil or 59% are from local investors and RM29.95bil or 41% are from foreign investors, of which 41% of the total committed investments have been spent to date.

Abdul Ghani said this after witnessing a joint-venture agreement between Dijaya Corp Bhd and Iskandar Waterfront Sdn Bhd to jointly develop a 92ha freehold land in Plentong, on the eastern part of Johor Baru district.

The parties will undertake the mixed property project for the next eight years with a gross development value of RM2.8bil to be known as Tropicana Danga Cove.

Abdul Ghani is also the co-chairman of the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) together with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“The next six to 12 months will see several of the on-going public and private-initiative projects taking shapes and operational as scheduled,’’ he said.

He said among the notable major projects include the Johor Premium Outlets in Kulaijaya to open this November and Asia’s first Legoland Theme Park here which would open its doors in September 2012.

Abdul Ghani said three foreign universities have decided to set up their faculties at the EduCity here - two were the engineering schools and one in the business management discipline.

He said the existing EduCity precinct in Nusajaya covering 121.40ha now would have to be extended in the near future to cater for demand from foreign universities who planned to open their branch campuses here.

Dijaya buys 92ha in Johor for mixed development

http://www.btimes.com.my

By Ahmad Fairuz Othman
Published on 16th August 2011


NUSAJAYA: Dijaya Corp Bhd yesterday bought 92ha of land in Plentong, Johor Baru, for RM220 million, which it intends to use for a mixed development township with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM2.8 billion.

"The landed properties will have prospects for strong price appreciation in the future," said Dijaya's group chief executive officer Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing.

He also said that Dijaya, which is known for its flagship Tropicana Golf and Country Resort, Tropicana Indah Resort Home and Tropicana City in the Klang Valley, is on the lookout for new investment opportunities.

The deal yesterday was Dijaya's second major land purchase in Johor within a year.

Last August, the property developer bought a 15ha plot fronting the straits of Johor for its Tropicana City @ Danga Bay project.

On Tropicana City @ Danga Bay, Tan said the soon-to-be launched project has a GDV of RM3.8 billion. It will comprise office and commercial blocks, as well as hotel, shopping and world-class lifestyle properties.

With the two land purchases, Dijaya has to date invested RM528 million in land banking at Iskandar Malaysia.

"We are on an expansion strategy in the southern region ... We will continue to bring our brand value to a wide spectrum of emerging markets and potential customers," said Tan.

The 92ha freehold land was acquired by Magical Heights Sdn Bhd, a joint venture between Dijaya's wholly-owned subsidiary Accroway Sdn Bhd and Iskandar Waterfront Sdn Bhd (IWSB), from Trident World Sdn Bhd.

The Johor state government thus has an interest in the transaction as Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor owns a substantial stake in IWSB.

Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman, who witnessed the signing of the joint-venture agreement yesterday, said the deal would bring in more development to the outskirts of Johor Baru.