Iskandar Malaysia is able to achieve investment RM383b

IRDA design and re-shape structure, job opportunities
SUCCESS Iskandar Development Region to attract investments amounting to RM69.2 billion as at end of last year was a remarkable achievement that proves the confidence of investors and overseas to the country's economic climate.
Though a little past the first phase of the implementation period ie 2006 to 2010, its development has led the development of the set, when a plan should be implemented in two phases between 2011 to 2018, has been brisk walk.
Chief Executive of the Iskandar Development Region Authority (IRDA), Ismail Ibrahim, said the Iskandar Malaysia is able to achieve the target of RM383 billion investments by maturity of the development of the area in 2025.

 "Since its development in 2006, Iskandar Malaysia at the end of last year has received an investment of RM69.2 billion, including 13.9 billion received in 2010 with 58 percent of domestic investment and the rest involved foreign direct investment (FDI). Of these, the 40 per cent has been spent.
"Based on this performance, we believe that Iskandar Malaysia is able to reach up to RM73 billion in investments during the Tenth Malaysia Plan (RMK-10) with an average of between RM13 billion and RM15 billion a year," he said in a meeting with Daily News in the IRDA office near Danga Bay, Johor Bahru.
Ismail said the investment of the country is expected because it would increase the confidence of foreign investors is the potential corridors.
"Initially, we are encouraging investment from abroad, but from an economic standpoint, we still need to rely on domestic investment," he said.
He said other big companies, Iskandar Malaysia is also focusing on efforts to develop the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially in Johor for the presence of about 16,000 SMEs currently contribute to over 90 percent of the state's economy.
About job opportunities within Iskandar Malaysia, Ismail said his target of 1.4 million workers by 2025 compared to 600,000 workers is currently working through the restructuring of existing forms.
He said currently 70 per cent of employment in the region involving the manufacturing and service sector 30 percent, but the IRDA wishes menstrukturkannya to 70 percent and 30 percent of the services sector of the manufacturing sector to generate higher revenues.
"We believe, through the restructuring of work will be able to add up to 800.00 in 2025, the workforce will thus be able to reduce the reliance of local workers to work in Singapore.
"We believe more and more workers are interested in working in the Iskandar Malaysia if we could at least offer a salary of up to two thirds of what they have in Singapore and it certainly can change their perception to work here," he said.

Here some picture of Medina , Iskandar malaysia

New Maybank2u Look

Today , when i try to sign in to maybank2u, i find new look, for better security... Good job maybank

 

Felda expand hotel business

KUALA TERENGGANU: August 20 - Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) will expand the business in the hotel industry, including building a new hotel in the near future.

Its chairman Tan Sri Dr. Mohd. Noor Yusof said Felda is building a resort-style hotel that is equipped with about 200 rooms in an eight-hectare area in the Tanjung Leman, Johor.

He said the hotel was valued at RM31 million starts last year and is expected to be completed by the end of next year.

He said he had also received approval to build a hotel in Port Dickson, Negeri Sembilan.

Plan''for hotels in Port Dickson are being planned and is expected to be implemented soon.

''Construction of two new hotels will add a range of hotel and resort owned by Felda, "he said when met after launching Felda Residence Fasting Menu here.

He also presented a reading material, including Dictionary of the English and Arabic contributions to the Felda Foundation Schools of Design Felda at the ceremony.

Yusof said that, currently, Felda has two resorts in Pekan, Pahang and Perak besides Felda Residence here.

According to him, he will use the experience to manage Felda Residence here to administer two new hotels.

He was told, the construction of two new hotels will provide significant benefits to businesses and residents of Felda.

''This is because the construction of the hotel will help improve and increase the income of Felda, which indirectly will return to the Felda community.

''In addition, it will help residents of Felda experience managing businesses and providing jobs for them, "he said.

Here Felda Residence in Tanjung Leman 
Jom

KFC in Tanjung Leman

Welcome to KFC Tanjung Leman , Mersing,Johor

To go to Tg Leman and ni be the palm trees ... go to the intersections of East Felda Tenggaroh 2. Will be seen palm oil processing plant who moderate level .. See it on the gamba ni kt? available asap2 tu .. huhu. Oh yes, for now kebykan en coconut palm trees to be cut da want to following in a recent planting. So certain2 the new place looks past the war .. -_-"

Lee Chong Wei - Winner all england 2011

Malaysia Boleh!, Lee Chong Wei Boleh

JCorp Has No Plans To Take KFC Holdings Private

KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- Johor Corporation (JCorp) has no plans to take its fast-food restaurant KFC Holdings (M) Bhd, private for now, said its chief executive, Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim.

"There are no dicussions on this matter at the moment, but I would not rule out the possibility in future," Muhammad Ali said after a media briefing on the "International Seminar on Awqaf 2008" here Monday.

According to Muhammad Ali, JCorp has plans though to raise the group's stake to 51 percent in KFCH. For now, the company is allowed to buy a two percent stake in KFCH every six months.

"While we have the intention, it does not mean we will buy at any price. It is a business decision and depends on an appropriate price," he explained.

Muhammad Ali also said JCorp was looking forward to having KFCH as its subsidiary either by the year's end or early next year.

JCorp, via its unit QSR Brands Bhd, currently holds about a 48.7 percent stake in KFCH, which owns more than 400 restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali said JCorp was looking to transform itself into a "Corporate Waqaf" by handing out an endowment in terms of shares to benefit people at large.

Muhammad Ali said Johor Corporation endowed RM200 million worth of shares in its subsidiaries in 2006 and another RM50 million last year. For this year, it is looking to endow another RM50 million.

"Everytime we make a big profit, we will waqaf or make an endowment. But the amount depends on the level of profit as we have to sustain the group first," he added.

JCorp posted a 72 percent higher pre-tax profit of RM600 million for its financial year ended Dec 31, 2007 from RM348 million previously, following a higher contribution from its palm oil business and the better performing healthcare business.

Its revenue also rose 38.1 percent to RM4.774 billion from RM3.457 billion. Meanwhile, Muhammad Ali said JCorp, in cooperation with the Institut Kefahaman Islam Malaysia (IKIM), will organise the International Seminar on Awqaf 2008 under the theme, "The Social and Economic Empowerment of the Ummah".

It will be held from Aug 11-12 at Persada Johor, Johor Bahru. Eight working papers are expected to be presented by local and international scholars to help individuals and organisations understand better the concept and benefits of waqaf.

Among the speakers are Professor Murat Cizakca and Professor Zainal Azam Abdul Rahman, both from the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance(INCEIF) in Kuala Lumpur.

The seminar, to be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, is expected to attract about 300 participants who will pay RM1,500 each.

-- BERNAMA

Earth Hour Malaysia 2011

Earth hour 2011 in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR March 26 - Today the Earth Hour campaign, an initiative to conserve earth from destruction as well as to preserve the environment is celebrated around the world.
The campaign, which was started by World Wild Life Fund for Nature(WWF) Australia back in 2007, has grown into the largest global movement for the environment led by the WWF network.
A survey in various places in Klang Valley found most of the major premises including shopping complexes such as Pavillion and Lot 10 in Bukit Bintang and skyscrapers such as the KL Tower and the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC) had switched off all non-essential lights for about an hour from 8.30pm onwards.
Major hotels like Hilton KL in KL Sentral, Grand Millenium in Bukit Bintang as well as corporate buildings of Standard Chartered, AmBank and Maybank also joined in to support the campaign.
Meanwhile, in Petaling Jaya, the campaign went well as Sunway Pyramid partnered with WWF Malaysia for the first time by organising it, which was attended by more than 300 people.
Executive Director cum Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of WWF Malaysia, Datuk Dr Dionysius Sharma in his speech said, the campaign was to increase awareness on climate change.
"This event is an important step to create awareness, interest and concern over the global threat of climate change,” he said, adding that similar events were also organised in 128 countries and over 400 cities around the world.
Chief Executive Officer of Sunway Pyramid, HC Chan, who also attended the event, said, as an organization, it understood the need to play a major roles in preserving environment. - Bernama

Iskandar Malaysia to use bus rapid transit system

PUTRAJAYA April 30 — A bus rapid transit system (BRT) will be implemented as the public transportation model for Iskandar Malaysia to support the region”s bus industry restructuring.
The decision was endorsed at the eighth Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) Members of Authority (MOA) meeting here today, which was jointly chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who is also IRDA Co-Chairman, and Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.
"The Members also endorsed the incorporation of Pasukan Pengangkutan Awam Iskandar Malaysia (PAIM) as the state”s Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to drive public transport improvement initiatives and future development,” said IRDA in a statement today.
Benchmarked against other developing countries, the BRT is a bus system with dedicated bus running ways and is expected to be a cost-effective way of providing high quality and high performance transit.
The system which requires a lower development cost with greater implementation compared to rail transit, is targeted to increase peak hour public transport modal share to 25 per cent by 2012 and 50 per cent by 2030.
The proposed model would include the development of infrastructure and supporting public transport facilities such as bus lanes, integrated transport terminals, stations and interchange, integrated ticketing and cashless transaction system, and passenger”s information system.
A total length of 320 kilometres of BRT lines would be established to cover the five flagship zones of Iskandar Malaysia, with the pilot project to cover three main lines — Johor Bahru to Skudai (21.05 kilometres), Johor Bahru to Pandan (9.57 kilometres) and Johor Bahru to Nusajaya (13.93 kilometres).
A total cost of RM469.5 million has been estimated for the BRT infrastructure, which covers bus lanes, terminals, stations, interchanges, stops, park and ride facilities and mobility centres, and it is targeted to complete by 2012.
"With the completion of the pilot BRT lines, ridership is expected to increase from the current 150,000 to 400,000 daily,” IRDA said.
Other than that, 20 programmes would be implemented under the Iskandar Malaysia Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Blueprint which include Broadband Improvement Programme, ICT Infratructure Guidelines, Wireless@Iskandar Project, Gigabyte Fibre Network@IM, Open Access Network, 1Iskandar Project Centre, Enhancing Reach and Richness of Service, and Shared Services.
Other programmes are Intelligent City Management Services Competition, Kosmosarium (ICT Discovery), MSC Cybercity Incentives, Iskandar IPTV, ICT Awareness for SME, Enhancing Tele-medicine, Enhancing e-Logistics, Cloud Computing Data Centre, Personalised Concierge Service, Johor e-Government, Pusat 1 Komuniti, and School and Higher Institute of Learning ICT Competition.
Benchmarked against five countries advanced in ICT, namely Sweden, South Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom and Australia, the objective is that through the 20 programmes, Iskandar Malaysia would achieve 90 per cent broadband penetration, 95 per cent online e-government services implementation, attract 10 global ICT companies to spur creation of 200 supporting companies, tripling adoption of ICT among SME which currently at 35 per cent, and 80 per cent ICT literacy among the communities.
The Programme Implementation Committee (PIC) is the governance framework set up, consisting of Economic Planning Unit (Upen) as the chairman, Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit (MAMPU), Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), IRDA, Public Private Partnership Unit (Ukas) and Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) to ensure the plans are executed successfully and in timely manner.
They will be supported by five taskforces — one for each of the focus areas, namely eGovernment, ICT infratructure, Industry, Community, and ICT Promotion and Awareness — which consist of industry players, major service providers, commerce associations and relevant government agencies.
The MOA also acknowledged the Cybercity project in Iskandar Malaysia, an eight-year project being developed in Indahpura, Kulai, on a 150-acre mixed development area with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM1.16 billion.
The Cybercity project is to be developed over three phases beginning 2010, where the first phase covers a development area of 30 acres.
"Located in Flagship E of Iskandar Malaysia, the Cybercity project is a strategic catalytic project and is expected to create more than 8,000 jobs, and facilitate trading and services to spur the growth of the ICT industry in Iskandar Malaysia,” IRDA said.
On the Johor Bahru Central Business District Transformation Plan, the MOA noted that the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Perbadanan Johor Bahru Sentral Sdn Bhd (JBSB) which is wholly owned by the Johor state government, had been formed.
The operational structure will be led by a Board of Directors with the Johor menteri besar as Chairman and several Johor state executive councillors and senior government officers as members. Their function is to ensure good governance, provide guidance and make decisions for JBSB.
— BERNAMA