JOHOR BAHRU, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) serves as a transformative regional gateway by unlocking structural synergies between the two economies, shifting the paradigm from basic cross-border trade to cross-border innovation.
Speaking at the Johor Industrial Fair 2026 at the Austin International Convention Centre today, Singapore's AutomationSG president, Terence Teo, said the outdated view of Singapore and Johor as competing manufacturing destinations has evolved into a collaborative ecosystem.
"For many years, Singapore and Johor were sometimes viewed as competing locations for manufacturing. I believe that mindset is already outdated. The future is not Singapore versus Johor; the future is Singapore and Johor together," Teo said.
He emphasised that the JS-SEZ allows regional industries to combine the high-value technological and financial capabilities of Singapore with the scale and capacity of Johor.
"The JS-SEZ gives us the potential to combine the strength of both economies. Singapore brings global connectivity, advanced research and development (R&D), technology development, financial capabilities, and access to the international market.
“Johor brings the industrial land, manufacturing capacity, infrastructure, talent, and tremendous expansion opportunities," he added.
Teo outlined a new model for regional supply chain deployment made possible under the economic zone, with next-generation automation technology developed in Singapore, validated through R&D institutions, deployed across manufacturing facilities in Johor, and subsequently scaled across the wider ASEAN market.
"I believe the real promise of the JS-SEZ is to serve as a gateway for ASEAN. The opportunity goes far beyond Singapore and Johor. ASEAN today represents a population of 680 million and is increasingly important to global manufacturing and supply chain strategies," Teo added.
He noted that global companies are actively searching for locations offering resilience, connectivity, technology, talent, and direct access to growth markets, a proposition that Singapore and Johor can jointly deliver.
"Our ambition should therefore be bigger than simply attracting another factory or another investment. We should build an industrial ecosystem that the world wants to be part of," Teo stressed.
He added that this envisioned ecosystem must allow companies to innovate together, provide SMEs access to advanced technologies previously reserved for large multinationals, enable progressive automation for manufacturers, and equip workers with skills to operate alongside artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and intelligent machines.
Addressing macro-level operational challenges facing regional manufacturers such as manpower constraints, rising operating costs, supply chain uncertainty, and tightening sustainability standards, Teo noted that legacy approaches to expansion are no longer sufficient.
"Our old formula of simply adding more people and more production capacity is no longer enough. The factory of tomorrow must not only be bigger; it must be smarter," he said.
To support this industrial transition, Teo announced that AutomationSG is actively deploying its Trusted Industrial AI Framework (TIA), initially launched in late July, to assist regional SMEs in adopting AI solutions with proper governance, security, and operational compliance.
The three-day Johor Industrial Fair 2026, which runs from today until Aug 21 and is organised by FBI Publications (M) Sdn Bhd, brings together industrial technology enablers, robotics integrators, and smart manufacturing providers to accelerate Industry 4.0 adoption across Johor's expanding industrial hubs.
-- BERNAMA