JOHOR BARU, Oct 17 — The Johor government is confident that the Special Financial Zone (SFZ) and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will catalyse the state’s economic growth.

Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the SFZ and the SEZ could also strengthen Johor’s status as Singapore’s most important strategic partner.

He said that a discussion on the SFZ was held at the Menteri Besar’s official residence, involving representatives from the Johor State Economic Planning Division, the Iskandar Regional Development Authority and the Forest City Regional Management.

"There were several proposals by Forest City to create the best financial hub ecosystem such as constructing a route from the Linkedua highway directly to Forest City and creating 10,000 new jobs within 10 years.

"Another proposal is to ease cross-border travel by creating multiple entry visas and fast track immigration clearance lane, as well as special tax and incentive packages,” he said in a post on his Facebook page today.

Commenting further, Onn Hafiz said there are six financial sector proposals that are being refined, namely Banking and Finance; Capital Markets; Financial and Innovation Technology; Islamic Finance; Property Management and Insurance and Risk Management.

"I was also informed that several renowned hospitals, international schools and higher education institutions have also expressed their interest in becoming part of the SFZ eco-system in Forest City.

"Hopefully, this economic spillover will benefit all Johorians and achieve Johor’s aspiration to become a developed state by 2030, In shaa Allah (God willing),” he said. — Bernama