Malaysia, Singapore postpone Johor special economic zone deal

Malaysia’s prime minister said the planned signing was rescheduled after Singapore’s Lawrence Wong contracted Covid-19

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Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right) shakes hands with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (L) before a meeting in June. Photo: Malaysia’s Department of Information / AFP

Published: 3:25pm, 4 Dec 2024

Malaysia and Singapore will postpone a planned signing to formalise a special economic zone in Johor, Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Wednesday.

Anwar said Malaysia was asked to reschedule the annual leadership meeting with Singapore to January after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong contracted Covid-19. Malaysia was slated to host the leaders retreat and the deal for the special economic zone was supposed to be signed then.

Wong “informed me last night that he has contracted Covid and we need to postpone the signing to January,” Anwar told the Senate in Kuala Lumpur. “He does not want to pass the infection to me and my wife.”

The Malaysian city of Johor Bahru, with heavy traffic on the Johor-Singapore Causeway at dusk. Photo: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Malaysia and Singapore signed a memorandum to develop the economic zone in January this year, aiming for the free movement of goods and people between the resource-rich state of Johor and land-constrained Singapore. The signing of the deal has now been postponed twice.

The Prime Minister’s Office in Singapore didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Malaysia and Singapore have been in talks over the economic zone for over a year. Officials in Johor had hoped that it would emulate the success of China’s Shenzhen, which developed rapidly in the past three decades while leveraging its proximity to Hong Kong.

An agreement was initially scheduled for September, and then missed a November target. It was finalised for the annual leaders retreat between Anwar and Wong, initially scheduled for Monday.