President & Group CEO of Maybank, Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli shares insights on the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ). Discover how Maybank views the economic potential of JS-SEZ, supports cross-border capital flow, and facilitates infrastructure development. Learn about tailored financial services for SMEs and Maybank's commitment to the halal economy within the JS-SEZ framework.
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00:00Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Selamat pagi, saya Najib Araf, ditemani rakan setugas Nina Rosman.
00:05Kita berada di kampung saya, Johor Baru ini, di persadar di Johor Baru ini bersebut dengan Johor Singapura Special Economic Zone, JSS Ezek.
00:16Hari ini ada perbincangan yang menjalankan.
00:18Dan apabila kita bercakap mengenai zon ekonomi khas Johor Singapura ataupun kata-kata ini JSS Ezek ini,
00:23ia bukan lebih daripada sekadar sebutan geografi, Najib. Ia merupakan pemangkin ekonomi yang kita boleh cakap sangat strategik.
00:30Ia bertujuan untuk mengubah wilayah Iskandar, terutamanya di selatan Johor, menjadi hub ekonomi letak sepadan yang bernilai tinggi,
00:38yang mampu memanfaatkan kekuatan dan menjadi pelengkap masing-masing antara Malaysia dan juga Singapura.
00:43Dan inisitu juga ini sejajar dengan batalamat serantau yang lebih luas di bawah ASEAN.
00:48Memandangkan tahun ini Malaysia adalah pekerusi ASEAN, sebetulnya banyak peluang dan juga banyak komitmen dan tanggungjawab kita
00:53untuk mengukuhkan lagi perdagangan antara wilayah dan berpercepatkan inovasi dan tingkatkan lagi
00:58daya tahan dalam ekonomi yang kita lihat yang semakin berubah-ubah ini Najib.
01:03Untuk pengetahuan penonton juga, ciri-ciri JSS Ezek ini perlu kita tuarangkan supaya orang Johor faham, orang Singapura faham, orang Malaysia pun faham.
01:11Antaranya adalah pergerakan antara sempadan yang diperkemaskan di bawah sistem digital sebagai contoh
01:14yang akan diuji untuk memudahkan proses custom sebagai contoh.
01:18Ada juga proses imigrasi yang akan dipermudahkan di bawah ASEAN untuk peniagaan dan juga pekerja di Malaysia dan juga Singapura.
01:24Pembersihan kago yang lebih baik di pusat pemeriksaan dan juga dari segi mengurangkan karenah birokrasi dan juga logistik.
01:32Potensi untuk lorong yang lebih hijau untuk pelabur dan juga profesional mahir antara kedua-dua buah negara.
01:38Dan juga mobiliti bakat ini sangat penting, Nina.
01:40Baik.
01:40Kerana mereka ini adalah individu yang menyumbang kepada ekonomi negara dalam pelbagai aspek sudah tentu.
01:54Dan apabila kita bercakap, kita nak lihat bagaimanakah pas kerja pantas yang boleh mempercepatkan proses visa yang dipermudahkan.
02:00dan ini juga akan membantu kita lihat pada masa sama kekurangan buruh yang berada di Singapura
02:06dan memberi rakyat Malaysia lebih banyak peluang pekerjaan yang bernilai tinggi terutamanya.
02:10Dan sudah tentu, apa lagi kita lihat adalah kolaborasi ekonomi dan juga inovasi digital, ya, Najib?
02:15Okey.
02:15Itu pun penting sekali untuk melihat kepada kerjasama dan juga inovasi digital dari segi AI,
02:20keselamatan cyber kerjasama tersebut.
02:22Dan juga menuntut integrasi infrastruktur yang dilaksanakan kedua-dua buah negara,
02:27menyebabkan Singapura dan juga Malaysia dan kita bercakap soal kelebihan, Nina.
02:31Kelebihan ini boleh penting sekali, JSSEC ini, kelebihan untuk Malaysia dan juga Singapura.
02:35Sebab bila rakyat Malaysia dan rakyat Singapura mendengar JSSEC ini,
02:39bila kita bertanya, apa kelebihan yang mereka dapat?
02:41Apa rakyat Malaysia dapat? Apa rakyat Singapura dapat?
02:43Betul. Apabila kita cakap, kita mulakan dengan Malaysia dulu.
02:46So, tentu, apabila kita lihat ini adalah kerjasama ekonomi bukan sahaja untuk meningkatkan infrastruktur,
02:50memperkukukan digital, ekosistem AI, digital, inovasi, green economy,
02:54tapi adalah untuk meringankan lagi kekangan daripada tanah
02:58dan kalau kita lihat, meningkatkan lagi menarik pelaburan
03:00iaitu teknologi tinggi, model asing termasuk juga dengan
03:04mewujudkan lebih banyak pekerjaan mahir, high skill
03:07dan menggalakkan pertubuhan lebih maju di Johor
03:10serta meningkatkan lagi pembangunan PKS
03:12yang merupakan juga backbone untuk setiap ekonomi
03:15serta menghubungkan mereka dengan supply chain untuk kedua-dua negara lebih penting.
03:18Dan apa antara manfaat yang kita boleh nampak untuk Singapura ini sebenarnya, Najib?
03:21Okey, Singapura ini sudah pasti meringankan kekangan tanah
03:24dan juga buruh yang terhad untuk Singapura
03:26dan juga membolehkan pengembangan perniagaan dengan kos efektif
03:29berdekatan dengan pasaran di mana terasnya perniagaan tersebut
03:33iaitu di Johor dan juga meningkatkan daya tahan ekonomi
03:35dengan mempelbagaikan asas operasi itu sendiri.
03:38Dan untuk ASEAN juga, Nina, ada banyak kelebihan
03:40sudah pasti ketersambungan itu dapat kita wujudkan di kalangan negara ASEAN tersebut.
03:44Okey, bercakap soal JAS, yang sedia ini kita nak bawa syarikat yang ada kehadiran yang besar
03:48di Malaysia dan juga di Singapura. Nina boleh kira-kira menangkan tetamu-tamu kita pada waktu ini.
03:52Alright, right now we're going to be focusing, we're going to produce or present to you
03:56our first guest, President and Group CEO Maybank, Dato' Karyosari Ramli.
04:00Mr. Amir, again I want to say thank you very much, Dato'
04:02this is a very big and significant event.
04:04Well, this is where we see they will set the tone, solidify the tone.
04:08where is our benchmark and where are we heading for both our economies,
04:13Malaysia and Singapore.
04:15Probably you can share with us from a financial and investment standpoint,
04:19how does Maybank view the overall economic potential of the GSS ESEC, Dato'
04:24Thank you, thank you for having me.
04:26We are quite excited with this economic zone
04:30because we believe that it is actually a win-win situation.
04:33Singapore has always got that attraction in terms of skills and industry
04:39but Johor has also got things to offer
04:42and if you look at Johor, of course it's the land, it's the resources,
04:47it's the energy, it's the utilities, right?
04:50So I think it's very, very complementary.
04:53Now, one of the main strengths of this GSS ESEC economic zone
04:57is it's actually an agreement.
04:59So two countries have agreed to cooperate from an economic point of view
05:04through an agreement that was signed back in January this year.
05:08There are specific targets, you know,
05:10government has actually set a target of 50 projects in the next five years
05:15to create 20,000 jobs, right?
05:18So I think at the end of the day,
05:19it's about the win-win situation for both countries.
05:22It's about employment creation.
05:24It's about increasing the pie of economy for both countries.
05:27and, of course, as you mentioned,
05:28Maybank is fairly sizable in both countries and Johor as well
05:33and we are excited to be able to be in the forefront in assisting both countries
05:38and, indeed, we have been helping both governments for many, many months.
05:42This is not our only event.
05:43There have been a series of events that have been supporting
05:45both the Malaysia side and the Singapore side,
05:48bringing in the federal government, bringing in the state governments,
05:51hosting forums like this as well as taking them to roadshows overseas as well.
05:56That's a very lovely booth at the back here.
05:59You mentioned or you wrote that dual market dominance
06:02and support Johor-Singapore's special economic zone.
06:04You have four pillars.
06:06If you have a second, social impact, sustainability, Islamic values
06:09and also inclusive economy.
06:11Four pillars in this JSSEZ and Maybank course rank here.
06:15Yeah, because as a fully integrated commercial institution,
06:20we provide everything, right?
06:22We provide all solutions, advisory, also fundraising, et cetera,
06:27and we cater to all segments, be they small, individuals, SME and corporate.
06:32In Johor alone, we have got 71 physical touch points, branches, wealth centres, business centres,
06:40auto finance centres.
06:41In Singapore, actually, we also have 23 physical presence as well, branches as well as premier centre.
06:48In Johor itself, our financing amount now is about 45 billion ringgit, right?
06:53So, with the opening of the Forest City, right, Forest City has also been recognised as a financial centre.
07:02We are also planning to do wealth management as well, optimising on the tax incentives that have been announced by the government.
07:09So, we believe that we are in a prime position to be able to benefit from this.
07:16But again, we want everyone to grow, right?
07:18It's not just about we growing.
07:20It's about the country.
07:21It's about the state.
07:22It's about the whole population covering all segments of our client base.
07:27Also, we hope all of this hope becoming a reality while witnessing coming here today at Presada Johor.
07:34Dato, given the strategic, we can see, footprint in both Malaysia and Singapore,
07:37how does Maybank see the evolution of cross-water capital flow within the JSEZ footprint?
07:44Yeah, I think both countries, again, have been working quite closely
07:48in terms of making the movement of people, movement of capital, movement of trade much smoother.
07:56So, I think it will start with infrastructure.
07:59The RTS is about to be able to be complete soon.
08:01and then we also understand that the Johor government is also planning to extend the last mile
08:08from the RTS station to other parts of Johor, including Iskandar Puteri.
08:13I think it's important to make sure that people can move easily.
08:17The bottleneck has always been the courseway and to us, right, over many, many years.
08:21But if that can be improved significantly, people can move freely.
08:25The other part is also about trade and goods and movement.
08:28So, I think those catalysts would be essential to make sure that, you know,
08:35this is an attractive place for people to do business.
08:40I'm also happy to see that, you know, just next to us, this thing called IMFC, J, right,
08:45Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre Johor.
08:48So, it's meant to be a one-stop centre for approving of applications.
08:52From our end, of course, we have got a specific desk in Johor and Singapore
08:57to be able to help customers on both sides
09:00to make sure that, you know, their onboarding on the other side of the country is efficient and smooth.
09:08Dato, from the infrastructure financing perspective,
09:12what kind of appetite, you know, does MekBank have for projects within this zone?
09:16Our appetite is strong.
09:17So, in fact, now, we know that, again, there are 11 economic sectors within the GSS EZAC.
09:25So, we know that we can be supportive in all 11 economic sectors.
09:29There are nine economic zones.
09:31Again, we're using our physical presence.
09:33We think that, you know, we can help people within that area.
09:37In terms of solutions, again, wealth, financing, advisory, we talk about halal.
09:43I think halal is another interesting niche that we think we can help as well.
09:48Johor State has also mentioned that they want to grow Johor as a halal hub, right?
09:53So, in our case, MekBank, for example, it's not just about giving financing in Islamic, for example.
09:58So, we now even help SMEs to get certification for halal.
10:03Wow.
10:04Yeah, from Jakim.
10:05So, we do it online for them, you know.
10:07And, of course, we hardly charge anything.
10:10So, it's cheap.
10:11Apart from getting them to become halal certified,
10:14then we also provide an ecosystem for marketplace,
10:18where the B2B2B, you know, the SMEs can actually buy and sell within an ecosystem that we provide.
10:25And all this is halal as well.
10:26So, we would like to think that we are an integrated financial institution,
10:30providing end-to-end services to all segments of the client base.
10:34We can see that you are bringing forward,
10:36expanding not only for social impact sustainability,
10:39but also within the halal ecosystem.
10:41And how is Malaysia positioning itself to support businesses that will operate within the GSS exec?
10:48Do you want to know what are any specific, or we can say, tailor program to help all of them?
10:53Yeah, I think, you know, again, we want, our motto is understand what the customer needs, right,
11:00and see how we can offer them.
11:03There are different types of customers.
11:04They need different things.
11:06They require end-to-end maybe advisory, capital markets, financing, wealth management, et cetera, right?
11:13So, what we want to do is to be able to understand their journeys, et cetera.
11:18Now, we have started, well, as I said, Maybank has got about RM45 billion of financing in Jawa.
11:24So, we have got RM45 billion worth of asset.
11:27We think we can grow a lot more.
11:28Now, if you talk about the 11 economic sectors, one of them is, of course, the technology, renewables, data center.
11:36We have actually approved around RM4.1 billion worth of data centers,
11:42for data center financing in the last 18 months or 20 months or so.
11:47So, we have started, again.
11:48We didn't wait for GSS exec to be signed.
11:51And our commitment to Johor, of course, as part of Malaysia, and of course, Singapore as well, has always been there.
11:56So, again, you know, we will continue to evolve looking at innovation and solutions.
12:03If you are our May customer in Malaysia and also May customer in Singapore, you can already transfer money.
12:10You can already make payment using your QR code here when you shop in Singapore now, right?
12:14You can already open an account online on our May2U in Malaysia to open an account in Singapore as well.
12:23That's what I want to talk about, because humanizing the services for people like us, for the 600 million population in ASEAN.
12:31Maybank has really provided that services across ASEAN.
12:35But I want to talk about the challenges as well.
12:37Of course, it's not an easy road for Maybank in ASEAN and also GSS exec.
12:41What are the challenges you face and you certainly have to deal with?
12:47Because now we'll talk about certain people name it as a tariff tantrum.
12:52But how do you see the whole situation, managing and maneuvering?
12:57We believe this Johor, Singapore, special economic zone is a long-term thing.
13:02And given that we believe in the formula of this, it's a win-win situation,
13:09we believe that there's a huge opportunity to focus on, say, intra-ASEAN trade.
13:15You know, intra-ASEAN trade is only about 23% now, total trade by ASEAN countries.
13:21So that alone has got a lot of prospects.
13:24Yes, there is this volatility, challenges, uncertainties that we're seeing arising from the reciprocal tariff that's been imposed by the U.S.
13:33But, you know, when we talk to people, when people talk to me, I say, you know, no one knows what's the outcome.
13:39But we need to be able to then look at what we can control, perhaps.
13:44What we can control, perhaps, is about intra-ASEAN trade and maybe pivoting towards, you know,
13:50more other bilateral trades, you know, beyond what we have now to make sure that, you know,
13:54we can have a sustainable pool of trade and investment that we can attract in GSSCZ.