News on progress of collaboration between Sg and Iskandar Region.

Good progress made to boost connectivity between S'pore, Iskandar M'sia


http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1200443/1/.html?
SINGAPORE: Singapore and Iskandar Malaysia have made good progress in efforts to boost connectivity.

Malaysia's Land Public Transport Commission and Singapore's Land Transport Authority awarded the tender for the Malaysia-Singapore Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link Joint Engineering study on 2 May.

The architectural and engineering consultancy study tender went to the consortium of AECOM Singapore, AECOM Perunding and SA Architects.

It'll determine the technical parameters for the RTS Link between Singapore and Johor Bahru to achieve a convenient and cost-effective system that's well-integrated with public transport services on both sides.

This will be done in two phases.

In Phase 1, which is expected to be completed by end-2012, the consultant will look into technical parameters and propose options for the Link.

In Phase 2, the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) for Iskandar Malaysia will decide on the option that will be studied further.

Another area with good progress - the new Malaysian Automated Clearance System (MACS).

The number of users has increased significantly, from 1,140 in 2009 to 167,083 in April 2012.

The system provides fast-track immigration clearance for non-Malaysian investors, business persons and professionals, using special entry and exit lanes.

These achievements in bilateral cooperation were highlighted by the JMC at its ninth working meeting in Johor Bahru on Thursday.

The meeting was co-chaired by Mr Nor Mohamed Yakcop, Malaysia's Minister in the Prime Minister's Department and Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Singapore's Minister for National Development.

Also present were the Chief Minister of Johor, Mr Abdul Ghani Othman and Singapore's Minister for Transport, Mr Lui Tuck Yew.

A new work group on industrial cooperation will be look into ways of promoting mutually-beneficial twinning of economic activities.

It'll focus on high value-added projects in the manufacturing and services sectors.

The JMC also agreed to further strengthen collaboration on the environment and tourism, covering environmental management, environmental awareness and river cleaning.

- CNA/ck

The Star/Asia News Network
Friday, May 11, 2012
NUSAJAYA, Malaysia - The opening of the Legoland Theme Park in September and the Desaru tourism development in three years will bring in more than five million tourists to the state from the current 3.8 million.

State Tourism and Domestic Trade Committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said that with the new attractions, he was confident that Johor would overtake Penang in the tourism industry.

"Johor is now on par with Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak in terms of tourist arrivals but is still behind Kuala Lumpur (12 million), Pahang (eight million) and Penang (five million)," he said at a press conference after chairing a tourism committee meeting at Kota Iskandar on Tuesday.

He added that in the first quarter of the year, Johor received 6.193 million day trippers compared to 3.981 million in 2011.

"Singaporeans are still the highest number of day trippers followed by mainland Chinese and Indonesians," he said.

Hoo also said that Johor received 3.785 million tourists who stayed in the state last year, compared to 3.618 million in 2010.

On another matter, Hoo said the deadline for the Johor Tourism Awards had been extended to June this year from December last year.

"We have received an overwhelming response for the competition, which offers 27 awards in nine categories. The presentation ceremony will be held in September," he added.

Johor Mid Valley City land to cost RM259mil

PETALING JAYA: IGB Corp Bhd has agreed on a price of RM259mil or RM165 per sq ft with Selia Pantai Sdn Bhd for three parcels of leasehold land measuring 36 acres in Plentong, Johor.

The land is for a proposed Mid Valley City-type mixed development, via a joint venture between IGB Corp and Selia Pantai.

IGB Corp will have a 70% stake in the joint venture, with the balance owned by Selia Pantai.

IGB Corp will fund its 70% portion of the project via internal funds and bank borrowings.

IGB Corp told Bursa Malaysia that no valuation was carried out on the land, which is owned by Selia Pantai.

The purchase price was arrived at on a willing-buyer-willing-seller basis, after considering factors such as the prevailing market value of properties in the same vicinity and surrounding infrastructure.

toyohon said:

The Star/Asia News Network
Friday, May 11, 2012
NUSAJAYA, Malaysia - The opening of the Legoland Theme Park in September and the Desaru tourism development in three years will bring in more than five million tourists to the state from the current 3.8 million.

State Tourism and Domestic Trade Committee chairman Hoo Seong Chang said that with the new attractions, he was confident that Johor would overtake Penang in the tourism industry.

"Johor is now on par with Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak in terms of tourist arrivals but is still behind Kuala Lumpur (12 million), Pahang (eight million) and Penang (five million)," he said at a press conference after chairing a tourism committee meeting at Kota Iskandar on Tuesday.

He added that in the first quarter of the year, Johor received 6.193 million day trippers compared to 3.981 million in 2011.

"Singaporeans are still the highest number of day trippers followed by mainland Chinese and Indonesians," he said.

Hoo also said that Johor received 3.785 million tourists who stayed in the state last year, compared to 3.618 million in 2010.

On another matter, Hoo said the deadline for the Johor Tourism Awards had been extended to June this year from December last year.

"We have received an overwhelming response for the competition, which offers 27 awards in nine categories. The presentation ceremony will be held in September," he added.

Click to expand...

Hmm....though I would like johor iskandar to succeed(vested interest)...but this tourist figure is really too Kelong...jb as of now cannot compared to malacca let alone kl and Penang as most of the visitors are from spore doing day trip which doesn't value add much to the real progress ....or biz potential ...

Hopefully legoland, indoor theme park, medini, edu hub etc will really bring in both tourists, investors and ultimately foreigners to relocate to jb....that will be key indicators...

Cheers...quattz28

quartz28 said:

jb as of now cannot compared to malacca let alone kl and Penang as most of the visitors are from spore doing day trip which doesn't value add much to the real progress ....or biz potential ...
Cheers...quattz28

Click to expand...

U mean alot of sporeans visited malacca?

I did go to Malacca several times. Went to the latest shopping mall....palawan...something like tat. Very low human traffic leh. I almost got myself invested in one of their service apts....

quartz28 said:

Hmm....though I would like johor iskandar to succeed(vested interest)...but this tourist figure is really too Kelong...jb as of now cannot compared to malacca let alone kl and Penang as most of the visitors are from spore doing day trip which doesn't value add much to the real progress ....or biz potential ...

Hopefully legoland, indoor theme park, medini, edu hub etc will really bring in both tourists, investors and ultimately foreigners to relocate to jb....that will be key indicators...

Cheers...quattz28

Click to expand...

1. Transportation needs to be improved, as the 2 links with Singapore tend to be clogged up at peak hours, and intra-Iskandar transportation needs to be improved, mainly a local LRT or MRT linked to the planned RTS link from Singapore to Johor.

2. Good paying jobs and sufficient population of residents are needed to sustain the local economy and property market. Will this be a viable workplace for MNCs as a complement to Singapore? The symbiotic relationship between Iskandar and Singapore cannot be underestimated. To some extent, both need to thrive for both to do well.

whoami said:

U mean alot of sporeans visited malacca?

I did go to Malacca several times. Went to the latest shopping mall....palawan...something like tat. Very low human traffic leh. I almost got myself invested in one of their service apts....

Click to expand...

Apparently Malacca received 12mil out of 24mil tourists to Malaysia in 2011. Quite a few catalyst factors (medical tourism, plans to build premium outlets and boost malacca as MM2H destination)... a group of investors went in there for big-time investments recently.

whoami said:

U mean alot of sporeans visited malacca?

I did go to Malacca several times. Went to the latest shopping mall....palawan...something like tat. Very low human traffic leh. I almost got myself invested in one of their service apts....

Click to expand...

Malacca as unesco world heritage site attract visitors from all over the world....u can see different asians as well as lots of ang mo..definitely more bustling with life than jb esp near jonker street area....alas jb as of now can only attract mostly sporean due to lower cost (shopping, watching movie, car service, golf etc)...as say, hope things turn around with focus collaboration on iskander..

avelc said:

Apparently Malacca received 12mil out of 24mil tourists to Malaysia in 2011. Quite a few catalyst factors (medical tourism, plans to build premium outlets and boost malacca as MM2H destination)... a group of investors went in there for big-time investments recently.

Click to expand...

I hesitate in buying 1 of the service apt (for investment) tere. Cant remember how much was the yield. But quite attractive. Walking and viewing the shop lots, human traffic quite pathetic. Wonder how the shop owner make money? But tat was @ 2 yrs back.

quartz28 said:

Malacca as unesco world heritage site attract visitors from all over the world....u can see different asians as well as lots of ang mo..definitely more bustling with life than jb esp near jonker street area....alas jb as of now can only attract mostly sporean due to lower cost (shopping, watching movie, car service, golf etc)...as say, hope things turn around with focus collaboration on iskander..

Click to expand...

No doubt. But tat was juz a small piece of heritage site. Not tat spectacular leh, imo. Dont really have the umph factor!

School holidays, I used to bring my children and put up at Hotel Makota. Nice swimming pools. Too bad no theme park yet.

Monday, May 28, 2012
Source: Ivan Radford
http://www.themovechannel.com/news/40d81005-0851/?

Investors from Singapore are increasingly investing in foreign real estate as 11 overseas property exhibitions took place in the city last week.

Australia, China, the UK and the US were all competing for attention from Singaporean buyers, while Malaysia continued to be one of the most popular destinations for the eager investors.

... ... ...

The Malaysian property market has seen record transactions and demand in recent months, leading the government to consider implementing a RM1 million minimum entry point for overseas investors to avoid the risk of a housing bubble.