Iskandar Malaysia eyes RM22bil investments in 2014

KUALA LUMPUR: Iskandar Malaysia expects to secure RM22bil in investments in 2014 compared with RM21bil this year, said Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) Chief Executive Datuk Ismail Ibrahim.

He said IRDA was optimistic that from the economic growth experienced by Iskandar Malaysia over the years, it would continue to get more investment on a year to year basis.

"We have a target of RM383bil worth of investments by the time we reach maturity in 2025, and we hope to see that from this year onwards, we will be able to receive an average of between RM20bil and RM22bil," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Land Public Transport Symposium 2013 here today.

He said in the early years of its inception, IRDA received a lot more from foreign investment, at about 55% against domestic investment of 45%.

But today, there was a gradual shift whereby the economic region now sees up to 65% from domestic investment, and this showed greater and stronger confidence on the part of the domestic investors, he said.

"There are two types of investment. One will be new project which we will be announcing soon and the other one is expanding the current investment because of the confidence gained by the investors," he added.
Ismail said the opening of Legoland Water Theme park and hotel and also the addition of more stores at the Johor Premium Outlets showed that investors were more confident of Iskandar Malaysia's development.

"In the past five years, we have been covering the education, tourism and healthcare sectors. "This year, with the opening of Primeworks Studios, we are hoping that next year, we could have more investors in the creative industry," he said, adding that IRDA was also looking for companies in the oil and gas, food and agro processing sectors.

IRDA will also be introducing its halal hub next year. - Bernama