Johor sets up economic council to resolve financial woes

Johor has formed an economic council to help resolve financial issues faced by the southern state.

The Ibrahim Johor Economic Council (IJEC), chaired by Menteri Besar Hasni Mohammad (above), aimed to provide short, medium and long-term solutions for the state economy. 

In a meeting today, the IJEC discussed the stability of the economy post-Covid-19 and its focus on ensuring Johor will get back on track after the pandemic.

In a statement, Hasni said the IJEC would become the benchmark for the state government in formulating its 2021 budget.

He added that the economic council had talked about several proposals to provide assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as the health and tourism sectors, which included channelling RM1 billion to SMEs. 

The state government gave the assurance that no group will be left behind, whether they are in the urban or rural areas, he said, adding that the IJEC via the Johor government is expected to cooperate with GLCs such as KPJ Healthcare Berhad to issue health cards to the people. 

Separately, the menteri besar hoped to see Malaysia and Singapore ink an agreement for the reopening of their borders soon.

This is important to the state tourism sector and for Malaysians working in Singapore, Hasni said.

Earlier today, Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the two neighbouring countries were still discussing plans to reopen their shared borders.

Both were focused on tackling three matters, namely the business community, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for those working in Singapore for over three months, as well as some 250,000 Malaysians who commute daily to the island state for work.

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