Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi (third from right) presenting an award to a recipient during the Johor Business and Investment Forum at a hotel in Johor Baru on Thursday (June 22).
JOHOR BARU: Johor has raked in the highest amount of foreign direct investment (FDI) thanks to the political stability in the state, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
“Johor is today the only stable state (in the country) politically.
“With political stability, we are able to provide clear outlines for the state’s development through the Maju Johor 2030 vision, comprising six strategic thrusts,” the Johor Mentri Besar said in his keynote address when opening the first Johor Business and Investment Forum here yesterday.
He said Johor became politically stable following the state election in March last year, in which Barisan Nasional secured 40 out of the 56 seats in the state legislative assembly.
He said the state attracted more than RM70.6bil in FDI last year, surpassing all other states.
Onn Hafiz also said that Johor remained an attractive investment destination because the cost of doing business here was 30% lower than in Kuala Lumpur and 70% lower than Singapore.
“We have land, resources and talent that may be scarcer in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
“We are also more cost-effective. However, our intention is not to compete with either hub but to complement them,” he added.
Onn Hafiz also said that Johor must be consistent in its economic recovery while ensuring the development of the new economy.Under Maju Johor 2030, he said that the state hoped to double its gross domestic product to RM260bil by 2030.
To achieve this target, he said that a growth of more than 7% had to be achieved from now to 2030.
He went on to list the six thrusts under Maju Johor 2030: good governance; sustainable economic development; enhancing the social safety net; improving facilities and basic amenities; security, cleanliness and the environment; and special focus on youth.
Johor investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han said the state government was confident of repeating a similar feat this year.
He said that the state had already recorded RM10.6bil in committed investments for the first quarter of 2023.
He added that stability in the state’s administration helped allay concerns among investors over changes in policies such as what happened after the 2018 general election.
Meanwhile, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said that more than 90% of investment projects that have been announced for Johor had been implemented.
Commending Johor for its track record in executing both federal and state projects, he said, “In terms of execution, Johor is one of the best in the country. Almost 98% of all of the projects that were announced have been successfully implemented.”
