Johor’s economic growth surpassed the recorded rates for Malaysia each year from 2011 to 2016, with an average of 5.9% compared to 5.1% for Malaysia. As such, Johor is the third most important growth driver for Malaysia.
Johor has maintained its position as the top destination for investment in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia for 4 years in a row from 2013 to 2016, amounting to RM66.6 billion.
Johor Bahru was ranked as the 3rd best city in Southeast Asia in Mercer’s 2017 Quality of Living Rankings, an indication of improving living conditions in terms of political and social environment, economic environment, natural environment, housing, health services, and education.
Johor Bahru was ranked in the Top 5 Asia’s cheapest locations for expatriates, based on the 2017 cost of living research published by ECA International.
Johor’s poverty rate has dropped significantly from 0.9% in 2012 to 0% in 2014. Urban poverty has improved from 0.7% to 0% too. The decrease is more pronounced in rural areas, which saw rural poverty declined from 1.4% in 2012 to 0% in 2014.
Johor is the 1st state in Malaysia that has a digital mapping system that covers 4,000km of rural roads.
Johor is the only state with 1 international airport, 2 international ports and 1 seaport. Hence, the state of Johor serves as the Regional Logistics Hub for Malaysia.
The port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), the world’s 5th busiest transshipment port in 2016, won the Process Compliant Terminal of The Year at the Global Ports Forum 2017 held in Dubai. Johor Port Berhad as the largest palm oil terminal in the world, won Bulk Liquid Port of The Year at the Global Ports Forum 2017. This is an excellent recognition of both ports’ contribution as well as its roles and achievement in their respective areas.
Exciting upcoming projects include the KL-JB-Singapore High Speed Rail which will be ready for operation in the next 10 years. Adding to that, upcoming projects include the Gemas-Johor Bahru electrified double-tracking project and the Rapid Transit System (RTS) of Johor Bahru-Singapore which would improve mobility and connectivity for Johoreans.
Iskandar Malaysia has registered total committed investments of RM244.46bil between 2006 and Sept 30, 2017 of which 54% of these investments have been realised.
Iskandar Malaysia’s development with strong support by the Johor State Government has created 650,000 jobs until 2014. As such, Iskandar Malaysia is moving towards the target of 2025 to create 817,500 new jobs for the local community – Team Johor! This is also in line with achieving 45% of skilled and knowledgeable workers in Iskandar Malaysia by 2025.
The Low Carbon Society Blueprint for Iskandar Malaysia, includes strategies to reduce carbon emissions by half by 2025. As a result, Iskandar Malaysia was recognized as one of the 10 cities and territories under the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All project in September 2014. Indeed, the state of Johor is pioneering significant steps in the Low Carbon Society initiative, being the model state for sustainability in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
In the latest Malaysia’s Environmental Performance Index (EPI) produced in 2014, Johor scored 75.74% and is the 5th best state in protecting ecosystems and human health from environmental harm. With the Johor Sustainability Policy 2017-2021, environmental performance is set to improve in the near future.
Johor is expected to be the leading international education hub in Malaysia with EduCity Iskandar, supported by Bandar Akademik YPJ, Pagoh University Hub and Bandar Seri Alam “City of Knowledge”.
Through the establishment of 14 medical and healthcare centers in Iskandar Malaysia, Johoreans and Malaysians can now access world-class healthcare. This also propels Johor as an international health tourism hub.
The state government is targeting the construction of 100,000 units of Johor’s Affordable Homes (RMMJ) by 2023 which is the highest target across states in Malaysia. From 2014 until October 2017, a total of 16,010 RMMJ units have been completed.
Crime rates in Johor have fallen for 7 consecutive years since 2008 due to effective and efficient crime prevention efforts. In addition, Johor Crime Index dropped 38% from 20,970 cases in 2011 to 12,941 cases in 2016, thanks to the efficiency of the police contingent through the Community Police Post Program (CPP) and increase of CCTV installations.
Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex (PIPC) project reached a 38% progress as of July 2017. This hub will propel Johor into a well-established and world-class state, with the potential of turning PIPC into the largest oil and gas hub in Asia.
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