Lennon Tan, president of the Singapore Manufacturing Federation, told CNA that he is optimistic that the SEZ wo n’t turn out the same way as the SIJORI Growth Triangle and the Iskandar Malaysia projects because of the intensive business consultation from government officials this time round.
” There is a lot more personal business conversation, business assessment and this is true for both factors of the authorities”, said Mr Tan.
There are “very intentional efforts by high-profile state officials on both sides to support and advance the SEZ initiatives,” he continued.” There is reason to be optimistic that it will succeed,” he continued.  ,  ,
According to Mr. Tan, who is the CEO of the data protection agency Adera Global, some manufacturing companies in Singapore are struggling with rising costs and prices as a result of the scheduling of the SEZ plan.  ,
The SEZ is a new avenue for organizations to shift some of their operations to Johor, maintain attractiveness, and maintain the exact cost structure as it once had because” smaller firms are managing endurance problems with these challenges,” he continued.  ,
” Companies are waiting for more information on the SEZ… but I think they remain really, very strong and extremely interested”, said Mr Tan.  ,
Mr. Jason Su, managing director of the Singapore venture capitalist firm Farquhar, stated to CNA that he is positive that the SEZ may be” powerful” in part because of the support of the national administration led by Mr. Anwar, which he views as a technical pro-business management.  ,
Mr. Anwar has received praise from regional business leaders for creating a conducive environment that encourages foreign investment.
During his tenure as prime minister, multinational corporations ( MNCs ), including Microsoft, Nvidia and Alphabet have all announced partnerships and investments in Malaysia.  ,
US tech giant Microsoft pledged a US$ 2.2 billion investment in artificial intelligence ( AI ) and cloud computing in May to help develop the country’s AI infrastructure.
Additionally, Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang jokingly referred to Mr. Anwar as the” AI Prime Minister” and praised the administration for its “excellent infrastructure” to advance AI development in the region during his trip to meet with Prime Minister Anwar in December 2023.  ,