Rustam Minnikhanov visits Iskandar Malaysia economic zone

President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov has visited Johor region and Iskandar Malaysia economic zone on the final day of his visit to Malaysia. The RT President and members of the Tatarstan delegation studied the practice in the sphere of creation of the service-oriented economic zone.

Iskandar Malaysia zone is located in the south of the continental part of Malaysia, on the bank of Johor channel. The whole territory occupies 2217 km ² and is situated in Johor state.

Iskandar project was presented to the Tatarstan President in the office of chief minister of the state.

The project was launched in 2006. Its infrastructure is meant to be completed by 2025. By this time, population of the economic zone is to increase from 1,6 to 3 mln people, GRP – from 20 to 99 bln dollars.

It was noted that the economic zone was aimed at development of 9 main areas: tourism, health, education, finances, logistics, “creative” business, production of electronics, oil-refining, food processing.

Malaysian and Johor leadership offer following initiatives to attract investors:

- Release from limitations for import of foreign capital imposed by the Foreign Investment Committee;
- Opportunity to attract investments from any sources without limitations;
- Permission to employ foreign citizens for work within the scope of fixed zones, in proportion to area occupied by the company;
- Release from payment of the corporate income tax for 10 years from the beginning of activity in Iskandar Malaysia and abroad, given that the activity starts not later than at the end of 2015;
- Release from payment of the royalty income tax and payment of labour of technical specialists who are not residents for 10 years from the beginning of operations.

Practice of Iskandar zone in the sphere of services was presented to members of the Tatarstan delegation since similar problems are to be solved in Tatarstan upon realization of Smart City project.

Projects in the sphere of services are being implemented in the southern part of Iskandar close to Singapore. Iskandar Investment Fund provided necessary infrastructure, i.e. roads, utilities, high-speed Internet. According to the policy of top management, a big “pilot” project that involves smaller investors is attracted to each sphere.

President of Tatarstan highly estimated achievements of the economic zone.

The final place of the RT President’s visit was Port Tanjung Pelepas, the port for container ships located in the southwest of Johor state.