Malaysian state woos Indian cos

22 January 2010 , By The Hindu Business Line

Indian companies should set up base and grow in ‘Iskandar Malaysia', a special economic zone in Johor, the southernmost State of Peninsular Malaysia, the visiting Chief Minister of Johor, Mr Abdul Ghani, said here on Wednesday.

Mr Ghani, who is also co-chairman of the government authority that runs Iskandar Malaysia, is here in India to identify and invite Indian companies to Iskandar Malaysia.

“We want to leverage our cost competitiveness and invite Indian companies to Iskandar Malaysia, which will be a prime hub for nine economic clusters including creative, healthcare, logistics, electronics and education,” Mr Ghani told Business Line here.

In particular, efforts are also being taken to attract the Indian IT biggies and major players in the real estate sector, he said. “We give a 10-year tax holiday for companies establishing presence in Iskandar Malaysia. There is also concessional income-tax rate for the knowledge workers of IT companies,” Mr Ghani said.

During his ongoing visit, the Chief Minister of Johor has had talks with Infosys, Tata Group and other Indian IT companies and invited them to set up base in Iskandar Malaysia. He also saw lot of potential for Indian investments in biotechnology in Johor.

Meanwhile, Mr Ghani said that work on the first IT SEZ project involving an Indian company will commence this January-March quarter. The cyber city project is being implemented by Mantri Cyberport, a company in which Mantri Group has a 50 per cent stake, Mr Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Chief Executive Officer, MSC Cyberport, said.