‘Stop it with the casino nonsense’

ISKANDAR PUTERI: The talk about a casino supposedly being built in Forest City is a repeat of efforts by “certain quarters” to tarnish its image and Johor’s reputation, says Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.

He dismissed a news report claiming that a licence had been issued and that the casino project was ongoing here, saying that such talk is “wildly defamatory”.“The claims are not true and do not make sense at all, other than with malicious intentions to tarnish Forest City’s image and Johor as a whole.

“It is also a repeated effort by certain quarters to cast a negative perception and make Forest City development a failure back in 2018,” he said.

He added that he had a message for these detractors.

“I want to tell them, enough is enough,” he said at the state assembly at Kota Iskandar here yesterday, in response to Liow Cai Tung (PH-DAP) who had asked about the allegations.

On April 26, Berjaya Corp lodged a police report about an international news agency article which alleged that business tycoon Tan Sri Vincent Tan was involved in discussions with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim about the opening of a casino in Forest City.

Subsequently, Anwar, Berjaya Corp and Genting Malaysia Sdn Bhd – which was also named in the report – dispelled such allegations.

Forest City, an integrated residential development in Iskandar Puteri, is comprised of four man-made islands.

Launched in 2016, its development is expected to take over 20 years.

In August last year, Anwar announced that the government would create a special financial zone (SFZ) in Forest City as part of efforts to boost investment and economic activities in Johor.

Onn Hafiz said yesterday that the management of Forest City had submitted a detailed proposal in February about its implementation, following the Prime Minister’s announcement.

“The Prime Minister, who chaired an SFZ meeting at Forest City on April 18, said the tax incentives for the zone will be finalised by May.

“The state is confident and hopeful that the incentive packages for the SFZ will be announced in a few months’ time,” said the Mentri Besar, adding that offering attractive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives, such as tax exemptions and visa-related policies for ease of movement, was crucial to attract investors.

Onn Hafiz was responding to questions by Ng Kor Sim (PH-Jementah) and Andrew Chen Kah Eng (PH-Stulang) about the SFZ.

In order to make the SFZ a success, benchmark studies have also been conducted at several international financial centres, he added.

These included New York, London and Singapore to look at their banking and financial services, and Islamic financial centres like Dubai that offer syariah- compliant banking services.

Besides that, fintech hubs in the Silicon Valley and London were also studied to look at their innovative financial technologies that support the financial sector, and the Shanghai SFZ, which offers attractive incentives to investors in the sector.

Onn Hafiz said the two main focus sectors of the Forest City SFZ are the banking and financial services sector, as well as mid- office and back-office support services.

“The Forest City SFZ is an initiative with high potential that will benefit the people.

“The state assembly should band together and fend off negative perception and wild accusations from outsiders.

“If you need any clarification, just ask me or any of the state executive councillors,” he added.