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The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone will sit on an area four times the size of Singapore, with nine zones covering everything from manufacturing to financial services. What are the opportunities and challenges of this ambitious agreement?
Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Thilan Wickramasinghe, head of research in Singapore and regional head of financials at Maybank Investment Banking Group and Serina Rahman, lecturer at the department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.
(L-R) Deep Dive hosts Crispina Robert and Steven Chia with guests Serina Rahman and Thilan Wickramasinghe. (CNA/Tiffany Ang)
Here’s an excerpt of the conversation:
Steven Chia, host:
(The deal) makes sense. Singapore has needs which can be fulfilled in Johor and there are things Malaysians want which we can give ... why are we more certain that this time it will work more effectively?
Serina Rahman, lecturer at NUS who lives in Johor:
You need the political push to make it work, right? So right now, it's a good time, because the Johor Sultan is Agong so you have that top-down push ... in the past there were political obstacles. I also think Johor is getting there.
Crispina Robert, host:
But we can't deny that there might be deep challenges. Culturally, we are quite different. We have to negotiate - who pays for what, how do we decide on tax breaks and incentives. What do you think are the sticking points?
Thilan Wickramasinghe, Maybank Investment Banking Group:
Let me put it this way, 140 countries in the world have special economic zones, and most of them end up not actually meeting their initial mandates. The path to success is very, very narrow with special economic zones and normally it's because most countries get one or two or three things wrong for an economic zone to be successful.
You need to have geography, you need to have policy, and you need to have a business case. As Serina has mentioned, there is a business case right now.
Find more episodes of Deep Dive here.
A new episode of Deep Dive drops every Friday. Follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify for the latest updates.
Have a great topic for us? Drop the team an email at cnapodcasts [at] mediacorp.com.sg
Source: CNA/el
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FAST
The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone will sit on an area four times the size of Singapore, with nine zones covering everything from manufacturing to financial services. What are the opportunities and challenges of this ambitious agreement?
Steven Chia and Crispina Robert speak to Thilan Wickramasinghe, head of research in Singapore and regional head of financials at Maybank Investment Banking Group and Serina Rahman, lecturer at the department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore.
(L-R) Deep Dive hosts Crispina Robert and Steven Chia with guests Serina Rahman and Thilan Wickramasinghe. (CNA/Tiffany Ang)
Here’s an excerpt of the conversation:
Steven Chia, host:
(The deal) makes sense. Singapore has needs which can be fulfilled in Johor and there are things Malaysians want which we can give ... why are we more certain that this time it will work more effectively?
Serina Rahman, lecturer at NUS who lives in Johor:
You need the political push to make it work, right? So right now, it's a good time, because the Johor Sultan is Agong so you have that top-down push ... in the past there were political obstacles. I also think Johor is getting there.
Crispina Robert, host:
But we can't deny that there might be deep challenges. Culturally, we are quite different. We have to negotiate - who pays for what, how do we decide on tax breaks and incentives. What do you think are the sticking points?
Thilan Wickramasinghe, Maybank Investment Banking Group:
Let me put it this way, 140 countries in the world have special economic zones, and most of them end up not actually meeting their initial mandates. The path to success is very, very narrow with special economic zones and normally it's because most countries get one or two or three things wrong for an economic zone to be successful.
You need to have geography, you need to have policy, and you need to have a business case. As Serina has mentioned, there is a business case right now.
We have an (economic) system that is becoming more and more bilateral. So for a lot of countries, it is important to have your own value proposition to attract investments. And economic zones like this, where you have Singapore's financial and logistics centre with Johor's land, people and energy, is a fantastic proposition (for both).
Find more episodes of Deep Dive here.
A new episode of Deep Dive drops every Friday. Follow the podcast on Apple or Spotify for the latest updates.
Have a great topic for us? Drop the team an email at cnapodcasts [at] mediacorp.com.sg
Source: CNA/el
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