Iskandar M'sia promising - but proper, careful planning is needed

MALAYSIA's southern growth corridor Iskandar Malaysia released robust investment numbers for 2014 that defied concerns over the sustainability of its growth story on the back of recent oversupply woes in the real estate space of the region.

The special economic zone in the state of Johor drew RM27 billion (S$10.1 billion) in fresh investments last year, the highest since the 20-year project was rolled out in 2006 and up from RM25 billion in 2013 and RM21 billion in 2012.

That's not shabby for a project that by and large was deemed by analysts as having peaked in 2013 and was on consolidation mode last year. The overall numbers paint a promising picture; between 2006 and end-2014, Iskandar Malaysia notched up cumulative committed investments of RM158 billion, nearly half of which have been realised with projects on the ground.