Iskandar Malaysia was established on July 30, 2006, as the main southern development corridor in Johor. Covering an area three times the size of Singapore, it was divided into five flagship zones — A, B, C, D and E. These zones were envisaged to strengthen the existing economic clusters in the area as well as to develop targeted new growth sectors.

Flagship A is the city of Johor Baru, where its current economic activities such as financial services, commerce and retail, hospitality, urban tourism, plastic manufacturing, electrical and electronics (E&E) and food processing will be further strengthened.

In the future, a multi-modal terminal will also be developed, as well as an MRT/LRT system connecting the city to other areas in Iskandar Malaysia.

The main investors in zone A include global financial institutions — Citigroup, HSBC and Kuwait Finance House, major industrialists such as the Lion Group, Sumitomo as well as local developers Danga Bay Holdings Sdn Bhd, Pelangi, Mah Sing Group and Crescendo Corp Bhd.

Flagship B or Nusajaya, located west of Johor Baru, is where UEM Land has its main activities, alongside other players such as Iskandar Investment, Mulpha International Bhd, S P Setia Bhd and others.

Nusajaya, with its 24,000 acres of contiguous development-ready land, is one of the largest property developments in Southeast Asia. Current activities in Nusajaya comprise mixed property development, state and federal administration and logistics.

In the future, this zone is also envisaged as a hub for creative arts and entertainment, medical facilities, educational institutions, tourism, biotechnology and hi-tech manufacturing.

UEM Land is a major player in Nusajaya, responsible for the development of five catalyst projects – Kota Iskandar (the new state administrative centre), the Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters (SiLC), Puteri Harbour Waterfront Development, Afiat Healthpark and Nusajaya Residences.

Flagship C, the Western Gate Development, is located in southwest Johor. It comprises mostly agricultural land and mangrove forests. MMC Corp Bhd is the main player in this zone via its Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) and the Tanjung Bin power plant.

There are about 700 acres in the Free Trade Zone in PTP still available for development in various sectors including warehousing, international procurement and so on. The proposed 2,215 acres of the Maritime Centre at Tanjung Bin also offer investment opportunities in the oil and gas industry.

Flagship D, the Eastern Gate Development, is actually Pasir Gudang. Situated east of Johor Baru, it is currently focused on heavy industries and logistics, including E&E, chemical, oleo-chemical, food and engineering-based industries.

It also has the largest concentration of palm oil refining industries and downstream activities in the world. These industries will be further developed under the Iskandar plan.

The main investors in this zone include Panasonic (E&E), Titan (chemical), Western Digital (E&E) and IOI Loders (oleo-chemical).

Flagship E, the Senai-Skudai development, is located in the northern region of Iskandar Malaysia. Its key economic activities are airport services, engineering, E&E and education. Going forward, this zone will also be developed into the hub for agro and food processing, information and communication technology and retail tourism.

This zone is synonymous with Senai International Airport and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Other key players include Lee Rubber, Boustead, Genting Property, IOI Properties and Johor Corp.

This article appeared in Cover Story page, The Edge Malaysia, Issue 831, Nov 8-14, 2010