This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on December 15, 2025 - December 21, 2025

JLand Group (JLG), a Johor Corp (JCorp) company, is developing a technology park and sandbox in Sedenak, Kulai, as part of its efforts to propel Johor’s industrial base into higher-value, tech-enabled activities, moving small and medium enterprises (SME) up the value chain.

The project, called Ibrahim Technopolis (IBTEC) after His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia and Sultan of Johor, is being developed on a 7,290-acre site in Sedenak, which also houses the Sedenak Tech Park (STeP) — a major data centre hub in the country.

“What we observe is that our SMEs have stagnated all these years. So the question is, how do we bring our SMEs to [shift] higher up, to move up the value chain?

“That was the question [we asked] when we decided to do [IBTEC],” says Datuk Akmal Ahmad, group managing director of JLG, during a briefing on IBTEC in Johor Bahru recently.

IBTEC is located in the Kulai district to the north of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), some 50km from the Johor Bahru city centre and 70km from Singapore.

The technology park is made up of nine components, catering to various industries that JLG hopes will make it Asia’s pre-eminent innovation sandbox. IBTEC will serve the needs of new industries, research and development (R&D), power generation, residential and lifestyle.

Anchored by STeP, IBTEC is perhaps the only technology park in Malaysia that had ready investments and industries when it started, says JLG.

The 1,376-acre STeP is divided into STeP East and STeP West. Plots within STeP East are fully taken up by data centre operators, with almost RM35 billion in investments committed. JLG is currently talking to investors for investments into STeP West.

The other components of IBTEC are the Asterisk innovation hub, Ampersand advanced electrical and electronics hub, Hash logistics hub, Tilde life hub, Growtopia creators’ lab, Exponent power hub and Exclaim discovery city.

JLG estimates a RM27 billion gross development value (GDV) for IBTEC, which is expected to be completed by 2047.

Akmal explains that most of the industries in Johor are in “Tier 3 or Tier 4”, which are considered the lowest value-added levels of industries. Having a sandbox and technology park with investments from global companies could help local industries climb up the value chain, he says.

Drawing parallels with the country’s other technology parks, which he says eventually evolve into property plays, Akmal says IBTEC wants to avoid the same fate by having a strong industrial presence before the other components are developed.

“If you look at the equation [of other technology parks], what was actually missing was the economic component — the businesses were not there to drive the growth of the area. So, that’s one of the main lessons we learnt.

“Our focus was engaging with investors first, trying to bring in the businesses. It starts with data centres, so we engaged with data centre players, we got them in and then we started developing, so that has become the catalyst for us,” explains Akmal.

He says having a mature data centre ecosystem in IBTEC will attract investments from companies in automation and robotics, which in turn will draw companies involved in machinery and components to invest there.

These companies will then require integrated and advanced logistics and warehousing services. He foresees that advanced electrical and electronics (E&E) and medical technology (MedTech) industries could make their way to IBTEC, as the industrial ecosystem matures.

JLG has partnered with Japanese trading and investment giant Sumitomo Corp to make IBTEC a strategic base for advanced manufacturing and diversified supply chains. They will also co-develop renewable energy systems, district cooling and advanced water networks at IBTEC.

“We’re discussing with Sumitomo to bring their industries to IBTEC. So, we are creating the economic components first, then only [will] we start to build the technology park.

“It will be built on demand, not speculation,” Akmal states.

JLG has also signed a three-year collaboration agreement with China’s ZGC International Holding Ltd to position Johor as a regional hub for innovation and high-tech investment by attracting global technology firms to IBTEC and other developments within JS-SEZ.

As IBTEC is located within JS-SEZ, investors will enjoy various incentives, including a 5% tax rate for up to 15 years for manufacturing investments of more than RM1 billion, or 100% investment tax allowance on qualifying capital expenditure.

Akmal says IBTEC is focusing on industries such as data centres, advanced E&E, life sciences and MedTech as these are new economic activities, which means that Malaysia is starting at about the same time as other countries.

“Currently, with the traditional industries, we are trailing behind. We are still at Tier 3, we are still trying to get into the picture, but with the new economy, we can position ourselves at the same level as other countries,” he says.

Going forward, a lot of the enabling infrastructure will have to be developed in IBTEC. For example, the data centres in STeP East will require 56.4 million liters of water per day (MLD) by 2028, from the current 10MLD. Meanwhile, STeP West will need 31.5MLD of water by 2027.

In terms of electricity supply, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA) has already developed a 275kV main intake substation in STeP East and is currently developing a 500kV substation in STeP West, which is expected to be completed next year.

A new bypass road from the current Sedenak toll will also be built to improve IBTEC’s accessibility, while Tiong Nam Logistics Holdings Bhd (KL:TNLOGIS) will be developing a logistics hub on a 300-acre site within the technology park.

IBTEC will also be home to Livilab, a landmark building for collaboration, R&D, as well as a showcase, designed by the world famous Zaha Hadid Architects. The building, which spans 215,000 sq ft, is expected to be completed by 2030.

JLG is the largest private landowner in Johor, with 12,500 acres of industrial land, with a remaining GDV of RM62.4 billion. The group has developed 34 industrial parks in Johor.

However, JLG is expanding beyond the state into the Klang Valley as well as overseas to Australia, says Akmal. It is looking at several opportunities in the Klang Valley, but nothing has come to fruition yet.

In Australia, JLG is partnering with Far East Consortium Australia (FEC) and Eco World International Bhd (EWI) to jointly explore development opportunities there.

JLG has expressed interest in EWI’s residential site at Macquarie Park, which is located about 18km from Sydney’s central business district. In turn, EWI is exploring participation in IBTEC. This means JLG will not have to spend a lot to get exposure to the New South Wales property market.

Meanwhile, the partnership with FEC includes a joint venture with its Malaysian unit Malaysia Land Properties Sdn Bhd on JLG’s land in Johor Bahru.

All these investments are building up JLG’s asset base, adding to Menara JLand in Ibrahim International Business District in Johor Bahru — the city’s CBD that is being rejuvenated by the group — Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex, Pengerang Industrial Park and Bandar Dato’ Onn.

With the huge GDV potential of its land, it remains to be seen if JLG will become the next asset to be floated by JCorp. 

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