Azmin: Putrajaya plans to create new economic corridor in Johor

PONTIAN: As the polling day for the Tanjung Piai by-election nears, Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali has revealed the government’s plans to create another economic corridor in Johor.

Saying that the new economic corridor would “not exclude” Tanjung Piai, Azmin said the proposal would be deliberated by his ministry and tabled at the Economic Action Council (EAC) chaired by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“This is a long term plan that isn’t merely five or 10 years long,” he said.

Currently, Johor has an economic corridor in the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA).

His ministry, said Azmin, was briefed about the planned economic corridor on Saturday, adding that development could be executed as early as next year.

“I believe the new economic corridor could be implemented early next year,” he told reporters after a ceramah yesterday.

According to Azmin, a new development would be created to boost small towns from Bandar Malaysia in the Klang Valley to Johor.

“As I mentioned earlier, we don’t want development to be only focused in the Klang Valley or big cities. Small districts like Tanjung Piai must receive attention from the government for development,” he said.

The government, added Azmin, was currently in discussion to decide which small towns would be included in the new economic corridor.

“We want interior areas to be given attention and the number of towns that will be developed is still under consideration and Tanjung Piai is not excluded. The specifics (of the towns to be developed) are still subjected to discussion at the federal level,” he said.

Azmin said at the same time, the government has carried out continuous efforts to ensure that it had plans for development.

“It is not done just for the by-election. The late Datuk Dr Md Farid Md Rafik was a person committed to developing Tanjung Piai and other areas. As a former deputy minister, whenever he was back in Kuala Lumpur, he would meet me to apply for development allocation. This shows that he was a committed person,” he said.