JOHOR BARU: Iskandar Malaysia has recorded total cumulative committed investments of RM128.21bil from its inception in 2006 until September this year, according to Johor Menteri Besar, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.
He said the southern economic corridor managed to attract new investments worth RM9.28bil in the third quarter of the year, compared to RM7.56bil in the second quarter.
"Some 44% or RM55.81bil of these investments have already been realised. This shows that domestic and foreign investors are contributing real economic value to the country," he said at the launch of BioMalaysia and BioEconomy Asia Pacific 2013 here today.
To date, local investors contributed RM83.4bil (65%) of the cumulative committed investments, while the balance of RM44.81 billion (35%) was contributed by foreign investors, he said.
The top five countries with highest investments in Iskandar Malaysia for the January-June 2013 period are Singapore, Spain, Japan, the United States and the Netherlands, said Mohamed Khaled, who is also the co-chairman of Iskandar Region Development Authority (IRDA).
While the manufacturing sector recorded the highest cumulative committed investments at RM45.68bil, he said the economic corridor also saw increasing investments in other sectors including electric and electronics, petrochemical and oleo-chemical and food and agro-processing.
This is followed by logistics (RM4.81bil), tourism (RM2.5bil), healthcare (RM2.59bil), education (RM1.56bil), financial services (RM600mil) and creative industries (RM400mil), he said.
Other sectors that support the growth of the region include property development, in which the residential, retail and industrial segments collectively contributed cummulative investments of RM48.09bil as at June this year.
This was followed by utilities at RM12.64bil, government investment mainly in infrastructure and public works (RM8.31bil) and emerging technologies (RM1.03 bil), said Mohamed Khaled.
Meanwhile, IRDA chief executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim, when met by reporters after the ceremony, said Iskandar Malaysia was en route to achieving its targeted investments of RM22 billion for this year.
In fact, he said the economic corridor might surpass its targeted investment for 2013. "Up until the third quarter of this year, we are already hitting slightly above the RM20bil mark, so we are optimistic of achieving that figure (RM22bil) and surpassing it," he said.
Due to the escalated investments figure for Iskandar Malaysia, Ismail anticipated there was a need for the economic corridor to increase its annual investment target.
The increase in the annual investment targets, he said, would ensure Iskandar Malaysia achieve its target of attracting RM383bil in total investments by 2035.
The increased target to RM24-RM25bil in investments annually for Iskandar Malaysia would begin in 2018 and span until the economic corridor achieve its maturity stage in 2025, Ismail added.
- The Star Biz
The increased target to RM24-RM25bil in investments annually for Iskandar Malaysia would begin in 2018 and span until the economic corridor achieve its maturity stage in 2025, Ismail added.
- The Star Biz
