Johor-Singapore SEZ

The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone is an agreed project that has not yet been launched. If you are weighing production or logistics in Johor with management and finance in Singapore, it pays to separate what has been decided from what is still to come.

Where the zone stands

Singapore and Malaysia exchanged the agreement on the zone on 7 January 2025 at the Leaders’ Retreat. The blueprint has been completed and approved by the Malaysian Cabinet. The launch planned for 30 March 2026 was missed, and both Prime Ministers now name December 2026. Investments of RM132 billion were reported for the zone in October 2026.

The RTS Link

The Rapid Transit System Link will run for about 4 kilometres between Bukit Chagar in Johor Bahru and Woodlands North in Singapore. It is not yet open. A joint statement expects passenger service in February 2027, with the exact date to follow the necessary approvals. Plans that depend on the crossing should allow for that.

An old connection

The two sides of the causeway share a long history. The sultanate of Johor, established in 1528, included the island of Singapore and the waters around it, and the Temenggong who signed with Raffles in 1819 held both the Johor mainland and the island. Today the two countries have a comprehensive double taxation agreement, and both are parties to the ASEAN trade agreement, RCEP and the CPTPP.

Practical points

A site, a lease or a workforce in Johor is a matter of Malaysian law, so you will need Malaysian counsel for that side. The company in Singapore that holds or manages the project is subject to Singapore law. The Singapore holding company is one common way to link the two. The articles below come from the book Singapore as an International Financial Centre, followed by the wider Singapore sections.

Origins: From Temasek to the Free Port

Singapore · Origins

A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World

Every financial centre begins with a place.

Singapore · Origins

The Strait of Malacca as a corridor of trade

The Strait of Malacca owes its importance to the winds.

Singapore · Origins

Temasek and Singapura in the fourteenth century: archaeology and chronicle

The history of the island before 1819 rests on three kinds of written evidence: Chinese travel and geographical literature, Javanese court poetry and the Malay historical tradition.

Singapore · Origins

Malacca, Johor and the Riau archipelago

Malacca, founded around 1400 by the refugee prince from Singapura, became within a few decades the greatest port of Southeast Asia.

Singapore · Origins

Portuguese, Dutch and British rivalry in the Straits

The Portuguese who conquered Malacca in 1511 brought a new model of trade to the Strait.

Singapore · Origins

What the pre-colonial port teaches about location and trust

The history of the Strait before 1819 shows that geography creates opportunity. The island of Singapore occupied an exceptional position that remained unchanged throughout the period.

Singapore · Origins

A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World: summary

The island of Singapore controls the southern exit of the Strait of Malacca, the shortest sea route between the Indian Ocean and China, a position that made it a potential market from the earliest…

Singapore · Origins

Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819

On 6 February 1819, in a ceremony on the plain beside the Singapore River, a servant of the English East India Company signed a treaty with a Malay prince whom he had recognised as sultan a few days…

Singapore · Origins

The East India Company and the China trade

The English East India Company, chartered in 1600, was by the early nineteenth century a hybrid without parallel: a joint-stock company whose shareholders met in London and a sovereign power that…

Singapore · Origins

Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar

Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on 5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann off Port Morant, Jamaica, and entered the service of the East India Company in London as a clerk in 1795, at the age of…

Singapore · Origins

The agreements with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong

Raffles’ expedition landed on St John’s Island on 28 January 1819 and arrived at the Singapore River the next day.

Singapore · Origins

The free-port principle: open to every flag

The decision that shaped Singapore more than any other was the decision to make it a free port.

Singapore · Origins

Early growth and the first merchant community

The growth of the settlement in its first years was spectacular. In the first year, the value of trade was reported at 400,000 Spanish dollars.

Singapore · Origins

What 1819 means for the financial centre

The founding of 1819 established the institutional foundations on which the financial centre was later built.

Singapore · Origins

Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819: summary

The East India Company founded Singapore in 1819 to secure the route of its China trade and to break the Dutch hold on the southern Strait, under a cautious mandate that sought a British station…

Singapore · Origins

The Treaties of 1824 and the Legal Foundations of British Singapore

The treaty of 6 February 1819 gave the East India Company a trading post on an island whose legal status was contested. The Dutch disputed the authority of the sultan who had signed it.

Singapore · Origins

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824

The dispute over Singapore was one of several questions that divided Britain and the Netherlands in Asia after the Napoleonic Wars. Both powers had an interest in a settlement.

Singapore · Origins

The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 1824

The agreement of 7 June 1823 had already transferred the judicial powers and land rights of the sultan and the Temenggong to the British in exchange for lifelong monthly payments of 1,500 and 800…

Singapore · Origins

The Straits Settlements and the Second Charter of Justice

In 1826, the East India Company combined its three possessions in the Strait – Penang, Malacca and Singapore – into a single administrative unit, the Straits Settlements.

Singapore · Origins

The reception of English law

The Second Charter did more than establish a court.

Singapore · Origins

Land, title and the security of property

A financial centre depends on secure property rights. Land is the most important form of collateral. A mortgage is worth only as much as the title on which it rests.

Singapore · Origins

Practical consequences for today’s practitioner

The history examined in this chapter is not merely of antiquarian interest. Several of its consequences confront the practitioner who advises on Singapore matters today.

Singapore · Origins

Legal foundations and the comparison with Geneva

Geneva and Singapore built their financial centres on different legal traditions.

Singapore · Origins

The Treaties of 1824 and the Legal Foundations of British Singapore: summary

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 17 March 1824 ended the Dutch objection to British Singapore, exchanged Bencoolen for Malacca and drew a border through the Singapore Strait that still separates Singapore…

Across the Singapore financial centre

Singapore · Book

Singapore as an International Financial Centre — preface

Few places show as clearly as Singapore that a financial centre can be built by design.

Singapore · Origins

A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World

Every financial centre begins with a place.

Singapore · Origins

The Strait of Malacca as a corridor of trade

The Strait of Malacca owes its importance to the winds.

Singapore · Origins

Temasek and Singapura in the fourteenth century: archaeology and chronicle

The history of the island before 1819 rests on three kinds of written evidence: Chinese travel and geographical literature, Javanese court poetry and the Malay historical tradition.

Singapore · Origins

Malacca, Johor and the Riau archipelago

Malacca, founded around 1400 by the refugee prince from Singapura, became within a few decades the greatest port of Southeast Asia.

Singapore · Origins

Portuguese, Dutch and British rivalry in the Straits

The Portuguese who conquered Malacca in 1511 brought a new model of trade to the Strait.

Singapore · Origins

What the pre-colonial port teaches about location and trust

The history of the Strait before 1819 shows that geography creates opportunity. The island of Singapore occupied an exceptional position that remained unchanged throughout the period.

Singapore · Origins

A Place on the Strait: Temasek, Singapura and the Maritime Trade of the Malay World: summary

The island of Singapore controls the southern exit of the Strait of Malacca, the shortest sea route between the Indian Ocean and China, a position that made it a potential market from the earliest…

Singapore · Origins

Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819

On 6 February 1819, in a ceremony on the plain beside the Singapore River, a servant of the English East India Company signed a treaty with a Malay prince whom he had recognised as sultan a few days…

Singapore · Origins

The East India Company and the China trade

The English East India Company, chartered in 1600, was by the early nineteenth century a hybrid without parallel: a joint-stock company whose shareholders met in London and a sovereign power that…

Singapore · Origins

Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar

Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles was born on 5 July 1781 on board the ship Ann off Port Morant, Jamaica, and entered the service of the East India Company in London as a clerk in 1795, at the age of…

Singapore · Origins

The agreements with Sultan Hussein and the Temenggong

Raffles’ expedition landed on St John’s Island on 28 January 1819 and arrived at the Singapore River the next day.

Singapore · Origins

The free-port principle: open to every flag

The decision that shaped Singapore more than any other was the decision to make it a free port.

Singapore · Origins

Early growth and the first merchant community

The growth of the settlement in its first years was spectacular. In the first year, the value of trade was reported at 400,000 Spanish dollars.

Singapore · Origins

What 1819 means for the financial centre

The founding of 1819 established the institutional foundations on which the financial centre was later built.

Singapore · Origins

Raffles, the East India Company and the Free Port of 1819: summary

The East India Company founded Singapore in 1819 to secure the route of its China trade and to break the Dutch hold on the southern Strait, under a cautious mandate that sought a British station…

Singapore · Origins

The Treaties of 1824 and the Legal Foundations of British Singapore

The treaty of 6 February 1819 gave the East India Company a trading post on an island whose legal status was contested. The Dutch disputed the authority of the sultan who had signed it.

Singapore · Origins

The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824

The dispute over Singapore was one of several questions that divided Britain and the Netherlands in Asia after the Napoleonic Wars. Both powers had an interest in a settlement.

Singapore · Origins

The Treaty of Friendship and Alliance of 1824

The agreement of 7 June 1823 had already transferred the judicial powers and land rights of the sultan and the Temenggong to the British in exchange for lifelong monthly payments of 1,500 and 800…

Singapore · Origins

The Straits Settlements and the Second Charter of Justice

In 1826, the East India Company combined its three possessions in the Strait – Penang, Malacca and Singapore – into a single administrative unit, the Straits Settlements.

Singapore · Origins

The reception of English law

The Second Charter did more than establish a court.

Singapore · Origins

Land, title and the security of property

A financial centre depends on secure property rights. Land is the most important form of collateral. A mortgage is worth only as much as the title on which it rests.

Singapore · Origins

Practical consequences for today’s practitioner

The history examined in this chapter is not merely of antiquarian interest. Several of its consequences confront the practitioner who advises on Singapore matters today.

Singapore · Origins

Legal foundations and the comparison with Geneva

Geneva and Singapore built their financial centres on different legal traditions.

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