Iskandar Malaysia targets RM100 billion investments by year-end

JOHOR BAHARU: The Iskandar Malaysia Regional Development Authority (IRDA) is targeting investments of RM100 billion by year-end, said Chief Executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim. As of June, Iskandar Malaysia recorded cumulative committed investments of RM95.45 billion or US$30.24 billion.

"We are continuously working on wooing new investments and expansion of existing investments, and God willing, we are targetting to achieve the RM100 billion mark by year-end," he said at the opening of Frost and Sullivan's Global Innovation Centre (GIC) in Nusajaya.

Ismail said Iskandar Malaysia's achievements, thus far, has caught the attention of the international community.

An international publication, 'The fDi Magazine', owned by the Financial Times Ltd, recently conducted a global ranking of the economic zones all over the world. "In the resulting 'Global Free Zones of the Future 2012/2013' survey, Iskandar Malaysia was ranked fourth, after Dubai Airport Free Zone
and Dubai International Financial Centre, both in the United Arab Emirates, and the Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone in China," he said.

Ismail said the ranking was indeed a recognition that would "bookmark" Iskandar Malaysia in the mind of businessmen, corporate leaders and policy makers.

On the GIC, he said, it would offer employment opportunities and avenues to acquire skills in research, analytics, finance and consulting. "The establishment of the digital media centre will also see global content being created and delivered, thus boosting Iskandar Malaysia's name and image as
a world-class intellectual property development hub," he said.

Apart from the digital media centre, the GIC would also operate a Consulting Centre of Excellence, Innovation Centre of Excellence, Growth Innovation Leadership University and Financial Centre of Excellence. --- Bernama