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Meanwhile, Dr Francis Hutchinson, coordinator of the Malaysian Studies Programme at the Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, believes that reducing bureaucracy is important but that “too much focus” is placed on financial incentives.
“What people often overlook is the detailed follow-up after investing,” he told CNA.
Dr. Hutchinson stressed that a large part of increasing the value chain and operational sophistication of the JS-SEZ would require existing investors to decide to increase their investments and undertake more complex tasks.
“So, liaison agencies must have the discipline to continuously follow up with existing companies, rather than focusing only on attracting new ones,” he said.
More important than incentives, he said, is that Saudi special economic zones have access to sufficient skilled labor, uninterrupted electricity and water, and reliable international connections.
While Dr Hutchinson acknowledged that the Johor Causeway and Second Link, as well as the upcoming rapid transit system, connected Singapore and Johor, he said more could be done.
For example, the Causeway is already one of the world’s busiest land crossings, with around 300,000 passengers passing through it every day. The Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority projects that traffic at the Causeway will increase by 40% by 2050, and this number is expected to continue to grow.
“It may be worth considering building another line between Pasir Gudang in Johor, where there are many factories, and Changi, as heavy vehicles can then use this line, reducing the load on the Johor Causeway,” he said.
What kind of jobs will be created?
Dr Hutchinson noted that Johor has long been a producer of consumer electronics and now intends to expand its production capacity and move into higher value-added activities.
Due to the popularity of cloud computing and the emergence of artificial intelligence, the demand for semiconductor production is high.
But Dr Hutchinson warned that as production tasks become more complex and traditional manufacturing operations increasingly blur into services, the number of jobs created by each subsequent investment in the Jiangsu SEZ is likely to decrease.
“It’s becoming increasingly rare to have a big investment that creates 5,000 jobs, including low-skilled, medium-skilled and high-skilled jobs. Now you might have a high-end investment that creates 200 to 300 jobs, most of which are high-skilled,” he said.
Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi previously said the Johor SEZ aims to create 400,000 new high-income jobs and raise household income to RM13,000 (US$2,760) per month.
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