IDR's success 'will depend on Singapore role'

The Straits Times, October 12, 2007

KUALA LUMPUR - THE success of Johor's Iskandar Development Region (IDR) will depend on Singapore's participation, said a respected economist.

But suspicions among some politicians of Singapore's intentions in the economic zone could cool response from the Republic, said Datuk Mohamed Ariff, executive director of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research.

'It is not that Singaporeans are staying away, but Malaysians themselves are harbouring suspicions and doubts and creating problems, and some politicians are doing such things,' he told Chinese-language newspaper, Oriental Daily News in an interview published yesterday.

He said it did not make economic sense for Malaysia to discriminate against Singapore.

'We are just one of the options for Singapore investors who can invest elsewhere,' he said.

Apart from attracting RM4.1 billion (S$1.8 billion) worth of investments from the Middle East, the IDR has not received any other prominent foreign investments.

Malaysia is actively promoting the IDR - which is intended eventually to cover an area about three times the size of Singapore - as a new economic zone for the country.