On the 20th February, the BMCC hosted a Chinese New Year Lunch with our members in Johor Bahru. With the assistance of the BMCC Johor team, established following an MOU signed with the University of Reading Malaysia, this return represents the first event we have organised in JB since June 2015 when the BMCC led a UK delegation visit to Iskandar Malaysia. BMCC Chairman Andrew Sill and Executive Director Jennifer Lopez represented the Chamber at the event held at Amari Johor Bahru, tossing “Yee Sang” with over 20 attendees from various companies in the southern-most state of Malaysia.
Johor is well known as an economic development powerhouse in Malaysia and a significant contributor to Malaysia’s GDP; ranking third highest behind Selangor and Sarawak in 2017. The on-going mega infrastructure developments along with increasing federal & state government initiatives, and recently in digital and green technology, demonstrates the growth potential and investment opportunities for both domestic and foreign investors.
In his speech, Andrew Sill said “Recognising this potential for Johor resulted in the BMCC identifying the state as a strategic location to establish our first physical presence outside the Klang Valley. Johor is also the preferential option because of the established UK presence here.” The 2017 statistics from the Johor State Investment Centre indicated that 31 UK companies have invested in Johor since 2005 in various sectors. Several of these top UK companies in Johor are existing members of the BMCC, namely Dyson Manufacturing, Synthomer Sdn Bhd, Owen Mumford Sdn Bhd, University of Reading, University of Southampton and Mount Kelly School Malaysia.
