Reported in The Star (8/4/07) further details of the recently launched Iskandar Development Region (IDR):
1. Further details about IDR:

• The IDR covers 2,217 sq km
• It is the single biggest development project Malaysia, the project area, being 2.5 times the size of Singapore, covers the swathe of land from Tanjung Pelepas to Pasir Gudang, and from Senai to Johor Baru.
• Population in the IDR is expected to grow from 1.4 million people in 2005 to three million by 2025, and the number of jobs opportunities are set to grow too. From 610,000 jobs in 2005, job opportunities are targeted to go beyond the figure of 1.4 million.
• IDR’s new incentives includes foreign companies will be allowed to source capital globally and employ foreigners without restrictions. In addition to that, those who qualify will also be entitled to corporate tax exemptions for a period of ten years. Foreign knowledge workers in the IDR will also be able to import or purchase a duty free car for their personal use, an incentive similar to that offered under the Malaysia My Second Home Programme.
• The Government is expecting that the IDR will attract US$40bil (RM144bil) worth of foreign investments in the first seven years of its implementation.
• For the IDR, the Government is pledging more than RM4bil towards development of infrastructure
• Under the IDR, Johor Baru City Centre will be turned into a financial district centre, while Nusajaya will become the state’s administrative.
• The whole region is set to go wireless in five years, with Johor Baru doing so within three years. Two programmes, Wi-Fi and Wi-Max, would be rolled out under the wireless city plan.The first programme adopts the widely used Wi-Fi, or wireless fidelity interface. Johor Baru City is expected to be covered with Wi-Fi, which allows laptop or computer users in the vicinity of a “hotspot” to access the Web or corporate networks.(Wi-Max, or Worldwide Inter-operability for Microwave Access, is a more powerful version of Wi-Fi that can provide wireless Internet access within a range of up to 50km.)
• The Wi-Max rollout will start from the MSC Cybercity in Kulai within three years. This technology will cover the rest of Johor Baru within five years. A monorail system is being planned to Johor Baru while an improved public transportation system would kick in within a year.

Others:
(a) Incidentally, some of the following established property companies are already in the IDR:

• UEM World Bhd, SP Setia Holdings Bhd and Gamuda Bhd have already started some property development projects in the IDR.
• SP Setia, for example, has developed the townships of Bukit Indah, Setia Indah and Setia Tropika in the region. The Bukit Indah project is linked to the Second Link via a RM10mil elevated interchange, while the RM18mil Setia Tropika interchange links the project to the North-South highway.
• Coupled with the scrapping of real property gains tax, which took effect on April 1, much land transactions are expected to exchange hands soon.

(b) In Nusajaya besides being the State Administration centre, will also house USA-based Carnegie-Mellon University and UK’s University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.(The University of Newcastle Upon Tyne is reputed to have one of the top three medical fa)culties in the UK, while Carnegie-Mellon is a top 20 university in the United States.In addition to the universities, American-based Colombia Asia Hospital is also expected to set up shop in Nusajaya.
© Proposal has been mooted to turn parts of Johor Baru City Centre and Gelang Patah into special passport-free access areas to woo visitors to the IDR.

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