ISKANDAR PUTERI: The incentives announced for Forest City Special Financial Zone (FCSFZ) will catalyse financial growth not only for Johor but Malaysia as a whole, says Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi (pic).
The Johor Mentri Besar added that on behalf of the state government, he expressed his thanks to the federal government, in particular Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is the Finance Minister and Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
“The FCSFZ incentives are a very attractive package and I see that it will be a catalyst for financial economic development not only for Johor but for the country as a whole.
“I do hope that following the incentives announcement, it will attract more investors to invest in the state, especially in Forest City,” he added.
Onn Hafiz said this in a press conference after the launch of the FCSFZ incentives by Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim held at Forest City here on Friday (Sept 20).
He added that the state government would offer help to turn the FCSFZ announcements into a reality soon.
“The Johor government will make continuous efforts to make this FCSFZ a point of pride not only for the state but for Malaysia in general,” he said.
Earlier, Amir Hamzah announced that Forest City would be the first location in Malaysia to offer a 0% tax rate for family offices, which was among a “competitive” package of incentives to make Forest City a magnet for international capital.
“This includes a concessionary corporate tax rate between zero and 5%, and a special individual income tax rate of 15% for knowledge workers, and Malaysians, who choose to work here.
“These incentives are expected to attract businesses, financial institutions, and high-net-worth individuals, further augmenting Forest City’s position as a preferred investment destination,” he said in his speech.
Amir Hamzah said the single-family office scheme, coordinated by the Securities Commission Malaysia, aims to attract regional and Malaysian families to manage their family wealth from Malaysia.
He added that supported by good infrastructure, a competitive talent pool, robust common law practices and effective governance, opportunities abound for family offices.
“This scheme is aimed at being operational by the first quarter of 2025,” he said adding that there were an estimated 8,030 single-family offices globally currently and the number was projected to grow by 75% to more than 10,720 by 2030.
Amir Hamzah also said that the total estimated assets under management of family offices were expected to rise to US$5.4 trillion (RM22.6 trillion) from US$3.1 trillion (RM12.9 trillion) by 2030.
He added the establishment of family offices, therefore, would surely broaden the investor base to channel private capital into high-growth and high-value sectors.
“This is highly complementary to the ministry’s GEAR-uP initiative where the collective strength of government linked-investment companies (GLICs) is harnessed to catalyse economic growth through domestic investments.
“Hence, as we open our doors to welcome family offices, we are also inviting them into the good company of potential partners in the form of our GLICs and other institutional funds, and to partake in high-growth, high-value investments through venture capital and private equity opportunities,” he said.
