Singapore and Malaysia are in talks with Indonesia to expand the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), according to Singapore’s Trade Minister Gan Kim Yong.
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The JS-SEZ was officially launched in January, with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong agreeing to develop various industries, including aerospace, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and electronics in the 3,571 sq km (1,379 square mile) zone.
During the 9th Asean Conference on Thursday organised by Singapore Business Federation, Gan took part in a panel with Malaysian Deputy Trade Minister Liew Chin Tong and Indonesia’s Deputy Investment Cooperation Minister Tirta Nugraha Mursitama.
Gan mentioned that he met his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia last week to discuss bringing the Batam, Bintan, and Karimun (BBK) Indonesian islands into the initiative to strengthen the Singapore-Johor-Riau (Sijori) Growth Triangle.
“If we bring in the Sijori … BBK, Johor and Singapore together, instead of two, now we have three. So two is better than one, and three is actually better than two,” Gan said, who is also Singapore’s deputy prime minister.
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