Investors in Johor-Singapore SEZ agree to offer premium salaries starting at RM3,500, says MB

• Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the agreement was reached following discussions facilitated by the Johor branch of the Malaysian Investment Facilitation Centre and the Johor Talent Development Council.

ISKANDAR PUTERI (May 20): Foreign investors in the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) have agreed to offer premium salaries starting from RM3,500 to local workers.

Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi (pictured) said the agreement was reached following discussions facilitated by the Johor branch of the Malaysian Investment Facilitation Centre and the Johor Talent Development Council.

“One of the key matters discussed was the need to set a minimum salary of RM3,500 and above for diploma holders, while degree holders should be offered at least RM4,000,” he said.

“Alhamdulillah, I am pleased to report that the majority of investors choosing to invest in Johor have agreed to this proposal,” he added during the Johor State Legislative Assembly sitting at Kota Iskandar on Tuesday.

He was responding to a question from Datuk Zulkarnain Kamisan (Barisan Nasional-Sri Medan), who had asked about the state government’s requirements for foreign investors regarding the hiring of local workers and the setting of salary levels comparable to those in Singapore.

However, Onn Hafiz, who is also the Machap assemblyman, noted that investors had set two key conditions, namely that workforce productivity and technical skills must be aligned with the salaries being offered.

On the hiring of local workers, he said the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry at the federal level had stipulated that the workforce composition in the manufacturing sector must comprise 80% local workers and 20% foreign workers.

Meanwhile, he shared that in a meeting on Monday with representatives of a Chinese company, it was revealed that the firm had already invested RM500 million in Johor during its first investment phase. This investment is expected to reach RM3 billion over several subsequent phases.

“The Chinese investor has expressed a strong commitment to hiring skilled local talent, and has also agreed to establish a research and development centre in collaboration with Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,” he said.

“This is part of the Johor government’s continued efforts to ensure that economic development directly benefits the people, particularly by creating high-income job opportunities for local talent,” he added.

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