Johor bahru: 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, highlighted the evolving relationship between Singapore and Johor as a collaborative ecosystem rather than competing manufacturing destinations.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Teo emphasized the potential of the JS-SEZ to merge Singapore's technological and financial capabilities with Johor's industrial scale and capacity. "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 I believe that mindset is already outdated.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 further explained that this economic zone allows regional industries to leverage Singapore's global connectivity, advanced research and development (R and D), and financial capabilities with Johor's industrial land, infrastructure, and talent. Teo outlined a model for regional supply chain deployment, with next-generation automation technology developed in Singapore and deployed across Johor's manufacturing facilities, eventually scaling across the 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 seeking locations that offer resilience, connectivity, technology, talent, and direct access to growth markets, which Singapore and Johor can jointly provide. "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.
Teo underscored the need for an ecosystem that fosters innovation, grants SMEs access to advanced technologies, enables progressive automation, and equips workers to operate alongside AI, robotics, and intelligent machines. Addressing challenges like manpower constraints, rising costs, and supply chain uncertainty, he pointed out that traditional expansion methods are inadequate.
"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 facilitate this transition, Teo announced that AutomationSG is deploying its Trusted Industrial AI Framework (TIA) to help SMEs adopt AI solutions with proper governance and security.
The Johor Industrial Fair 2026, running until Aug 21 and organized by FBI Publications (M) Sdn Bhd, gathers industrial technology enablers, robotics integrators, and smart manufacturing providers to boost Industry 4.0 adoption in Johor's industrial hubs.