ISKANDAR PUTERI (Feb 19): UOB Malaysia and Invest Johor have launched a "Green Lane" initiative to accelerate investments into the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ). This collaboration follows a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the two organisations at the 2024 Asean Conference last August.

Under the Green Lane initiative, UOB Malaysia will conduct pre-qualification assessments for its customers seeking super lane approval in Johor, based on criteria set by Invest Johor. This aims to expedite the investment approval process and reduce bureaucratic delays to attract more high-value investments to the JS-SEZ.

"As far as I know, we are still the first and only bank that Invest Johor has signed an MOU with," UOB Malaysia chief executive officer Ng Wei Wei told reporters at the launch of the initiative on Wednesday.

UOB has also introduced a fast-lane account opening service tailored for Singapore-based customers expanding into the JS-SEZ. It has set up dedicated JS-SEZ desks in both Johor and Singapore to provide financial support, including cross-border banking solutions, account opening, and market entry advisory services, to its customers.

"Beyond that, we also connect them to local government agencies, such as Invest Johor, IRDA (Iskandar Regional Development Authority), and Mida (Malaysian Investment Development Authority), to facilitate them to identify suitable land and to source for local suppliers. These are all the value-adds that we will provide, and we are able to do this because we understand Singapore, we understand Johor,” Ng said.

Gold Peak Technology Group, a Hong Kong-listed battery technology and energy storage solutions company, was announced as UOB's first client under the Green Lane initiative on Wednesday.

Gold Peak plans to invest about RM670 million in a manufacturing and research and development facility in the JS-SEZ, focusing on next-generation battery technologies for data centre energy storage solutions across Southeast Asia.

UOB is currently working with over 20 companies on potential JS-SEZ investments, totalling "billions of ringgit", according to Ng, who noted "interests from global investors are 'ramping up'."

"The over 20 companies we are facilitating into JS-SEZ come from various sectors, including manufacturing, energy and chemicals, digital economy and green economy. Given our broad sector expertise, we are able to provide them with sector-specific solutions," Ng said.  

"I think from our perspective, the JS-SEZ is panning out well. We can see it in the amount of interest coming in. Today, interest is coming not just from Singapore-based companies, but from China, North Asia, Japan, (South) Korea, Europe, and the US.”

UOB has been actively involved in promoting investment in the JS-SEZ since the economic zone's inception, via collaborations with the Johor state government.

"When the JS-SEZ was announced last January, we connected with the Menteri Besar office. The first thing we did was we brought Menteri Besar and his team to Shenzhen for an event to introduce them to potential investors. Today, three of those companies from Shenzhen have committed an investment amount of S$550 million (about RM1.82 billion)," Ng shared.

Malaysia and Singapore formalised the JS-SEZ with an agreement signed on Jan 7, nearly a year after the initial MOU was inked.

The JS-SEZ, covering over 3,500 sq km across six local authorities in Iskandar Malaysia and Pengerang, offers investors incentives such as a special corporate tax rate of 5% for up to 15 years and a 15% tax rate for 10 years for eligible knowledge workers.

Key focus industries include logistics, financial and business services, tourism, food security, education, healthcare, the digital economy, energy, and manufacturing.