Malaysia to break ground on Southern Agropolis in January, unlocking ‘plug-and-play’ food hub for JS-SEZ

[KUALA LUMPUR] A new agricultural powerhouse is rising in Malaysia’s southern frontier. Southern Agropolis, the flagship agrifood hub of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), is scheduled to commence infrastructure development in January 2026.

The project marks one of Johor’s most ambitious plans to industrialise food production for both the Malaysia and Singapore markets.

To live up to its “plug-and-play” farming ecosystem, Southern Agropolis is designed to let agri-entrepreneurs, or “agripreneurs”, bypass the heavy upfront costs of land preparation, cold rooms, logistics and processing, said Vincent Wei, co-founder and chief executive officer of Archisen, a Singapore-based technology and farm operator.