Starting to bear fruit
• Strong take-up of launches at new price benchmarks; warm response to JPO
• Reaching tipping point, but achieving critical mass would take longer; increasing investments in IM should accelerate development progress
• Top stock picks for exposure to Iskandar Malaysia : UEM Land, SP Setia, E&O, Genting Plantation
Warming ties with Singapore to boost IM investments
The Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore met recently for the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat, which resulted fruitful discussions to enhance bilateral collaborations:
1) Construction of an undersea tunnel linking Johor Bahru and Singapore as part of the proposed Rapid Transit System (operational by 2018);
2) Sale of electricity to Singapore, possibly from Pengeran (under the US$20bn refinery and petrochemical indust development);
3) Plans to align radio frequency spectrums for digital broadcast and mobile broadband services;
4) Forming a work group on industrial cooperation to promote IM and Singapore; and
5) Cooperation in aviation and airport services between Johor’s Senai International Airport and Singapore’s Changi International Airport.
Other initiatives being explored include higher education, and technical and vocational education. For M+S Pte Ltd’s developments in Marina South and Ophir-Rochor (Singapore), construction is expected to commence in 2013 with targeted completion within 6 years.
The successful bilateral talks will boost prospects for IM. The industrial cooperation work group may be a springboard for more investments by Singapore in IM, and could be a key re-rating catalyst. Since 2006, IM has received RM77.8bn worth of committed investments (surpassing its initial targets).
from: HDBS Vickers report
