Eric Dury

One of the highlights at Expo for our team was visiting the Malaysian Pavilion and attending the activations by the dynamic operations team. We enjoyed attending the Johor Week at the Malaysian Pavilion during week 22 of the World Expo with the theme “The Southern Jewel of Malaysia”.

During this week, the State of Johor showcased Malaysia’s best in digital, logistics, real estate, infrastructure and construction services as well as agriculture. The Johor State Economic Planning Division (BPENJ) as lead ministry, with Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) as the implementing agency had a full business program with numerous pocket talks and business matching sessions.

Some of the highlights of the week included the signing of at least three Memorandum’s of Understanding (MoUs) with organisations from Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa amounting to an investment value of more than RM 100 million. Further to this, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) launched the MDEC Global Testbed Incentives (GTI) with IIB Ventures Sdn. Bhd. This initiative features a funding scheme to attract foreign technology companies to test their solutions in Malaysia and, in turn, position Malaysia as the ASEAN technology hub.

According to Zarina Abdul Kadir, Chief Executive of Invest Johor, Johor is an ideal investment destination as it boasts of having high growth potential and rapid development which investors can leverage on as well as a sustainable economic ecosystem that support investors looking to expand or establish their business in Malaysia.

“We are strategically located at the heart of the ASEAN region and along the world’s busiest shipping routes, easily accessible within a 6-hour flight of major ASEAN cities through the Senai International Airport, three international ports and an array of highways. I am proud to say that Johor has managed to maintain its socio-economic resilience through the strengthening of the State’s overall talent ecosystem and increasing economic activities to fast-track our socio-economic recovery. Our presence at this World Expo has come at the right time and is testament to Johor’s commitment to attract a potential trade and investment value of RM500 million for the State.”

Iskandar Puteri has been designated as Johor State’s Digital and Emerging Technology Hub as part of the Johor Digital Masterplan. To further this plan, IIB launched the New Economy, Experience and Talent (NEXT) initiative. NEXT is an innovative private-public partnership with the state government which lends noteworthy support to the Johor State’s digital economy agenda and plays a significant role towards achieving Iskandar Malaysia’s aspiration as a regional commercial and digital hub. This will contribute to the greater socio-economic impact for Johor in particular and the Malaysian economy in general.

The NEXT initiative is set to attract more investors into Johor by stimulating digital innovation and budding next-generation, technology, economic activities and talent development in Iskandar Malaysia through its digital-centric ecosystem that facilitates entrepreneurship, knowledge-sharing and talent building.

As one of the crucial drivers for Iskandar Malaysia’s economic growth, IIB showcased other high-impact and catalytic projects in education, tourism and leisure, financial services, creative, health and wellness sectors via its group of companies at the World Expo.

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