Deep within Johor’s southern border region, commuters flow continuously between Malaysia and Singapore across the narrow strait that separates the two nations.
Just beyond the checkpoints, a 30-minute train journey reaches regional hubs like Kulai, revealing a landscape transformed by rapid digital infrastructure expansion.
At YTL’s expansive Green Data Centre Park, operational facilities stand alongside numerous construction sites, supplying high-performance computing and artificial intelligence chips to global technology firms. The park sits within the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), a landmark 350,000-hectare project formally launched in January 2025.
Spanning more than four times the area of Singapore, the JS-SEZ targets 260 billion Malaysian ringgit (US$63.9 billion) in economic output by 2030 and over 20,000 high-skilled positions, anchored by an upcoming 4km Rapid Transit System Link expected to reduce travel times and strengthen cross-border integration.
Malaysia views Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s early development as its foundational model.
Lee Ting Han, Johor’s executive councillor for investment and trade, told the South China Morning Post that despite differing political systems, the wealth gap between Singapore and Johor echoes the historic economic disparity once seen between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
“Much like the early days of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, where the economic gap was enormous, we are exploring whether integration can be strengthened from trade relations to investment culture,” Lee stated.
