$13bn Malaysian metropolis eyes Singapore...

More than $13bn has been committed to an ambitious plan to create a metropolis at the southern tip of Malaysia three times the size of Singapore, says the chief executive of the state agency set up to drive the project.

Arlida Ariff, chief of Iskandar Investments, told the Financial Times in an interview that a further $2bn (€1.4bn, £1.3bn) was likely to be committed in the next two years, including nearly $300m in retail investment expected to be announced over the next few months.

(...)

In the long-run, the biggest single source of investment is likely to be Singapore, whose central business district is not much more than half an hour’s drive from Iskandar’s proposed financial district.

The attraction for Singapore is the low cost of land, office space and housing, which are currently about 80 per cent cheaper in the Iskandar economic zone. Lee Hsien Loong, Singapore’s prime minister, has joined Najib Razak, his Malaysian counterpart, in backing the project. Full story...

Don't miss:

1. The armada of idling ghost ships east of Singapore...
2. The best countries for business...
3. Indian bureaucracy worst in Asia, Singapore's the best...