KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 9 — The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (SEZ) will encourage the industry diversification needed for the state to shield itself from global trade uncertainties, said Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
In an interview with Channel News Asia, he said the SEZ, which was formalised in January, spans 3,571 sq km and covers 11 key sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, financial services, and the digital economy.
With rising geopolitical tensions such as those arising from Donald Trump returning as the US presidency as disruptions in the artificial intelligence space from the release of China’s DeepSeek model, doubt has befallen Johor’s data centre gold rush.
Global technology giants Nvidia, Microsoft, and GDS International have already established data centres in southern Johor, the release of the DeepSeek model has led the technology sector to rethink if the previous projections for data centre requirements remained accurate.
“At the moment, the demand (for) data centres in Johor is huge, there are requests from US, China, Australia and quite frankly, this demand is getting higher,” Onn Hafiz was quoted as saying.
“Right now, it’s not a major concern, but we will monitor as it goes.”
Onn Hafiz explained that the JS-SEZ would help mitigate this as the zone covers 11 disparate sectors that considered “global demand and Johor’s strength”.
The 11 are manufacturing, logistics, food security, tourism, energy, the digital economy, the green economy, financial services, business services, education, and health.
The state was also pushing for travel infrastructure development to complement the Johor Baru-Singapore RTS Link that is expected to come online next year, such as by expanding the MyBorderPass QR-code clearance system to improve cross-border connectivity.
Onn Hafiz said the state was also working to ensure the growth and development would be both sustainable and equitable, by ensuring that some of the revenue is channelled back to ensuring the quality of life for state residents.
These include prioritising affordable housing and food security to balance economic expansion with local quality of life improvements.