http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/340937/economy/business/hopes-for-a-shared-boom-rise-on-malaysia-singapore-border
The zone has been dogged by skepticism since its inception in 2006, due in part to Johor's reputation in Singapore as a backward hotbed of car thieves.
But soaring costs in Singapore are causing a re-think.
Anthony Phillips moved his family across the narrow Johor Straits to Iskandar, lured by property prices that are less than half those of Singapore and cheaper schooling.
"Last year's move to Iskandar has been a great success all round. Iskandar offers the best of both worlds," he said.
Authorities say Iskandar -- named after a revered former Johor sultan -- landed $40.5 billion in investment commitments by end-October, one-third of the way toward an ambitious 2025 target of $123 billion.
Singaporeans are already a key market for a $280 million Legoland theme park that opened in 2012 and brand-outlet shopping.
Other projects include a branch of UK-based movie makers Pinewood Studios and an "Edu-city" bringing together several European universities on one campus.
A Singaporean-funded $1.1 billion Motorsports City being built will include racing circuits, a driving school, and is intended as a regional hub for development of the sport.
With a world-class financial center and port, high-tech Singapore's five million residents create a GDP equal to Malaysia's 28 million. But soaring prices have crimped competitiveness.
A 120-square-meter condominium in the centre of Singapore fetches well over $2 million while the Johor Bahru equivalent rarely tops $400,000.
Malaysia offers a range of tax breaks and other inducements in Iskandar's designated 2,217 square kilometres (855 square miles) -- three times Singapore's size -- of mostly plantation land.
Concerns are rising, however, that Malaysian, Singaporean, and Chinese money is fueling a speculative property bubble while more balanced economic development lags.
Johor housing prices have jumped more than 20 percent in the past year, double the national average and causing some local grumbling, yet Iskandar has one of Malaysia's lowest retail and office occupancy rates.
Malaysian officials express hope that "catalytic" projects like Legoland and the motorsports facility will stimulate other business growth.
"There was a property play in the beginning, now we have to focus on job creation... to migrate to a vibrant economic zone," said Wan Abdullah Wan Ibrahim, chief executive of Malaysian government-owned UEM Sunrise, a key Iskandar developer.
"Iskandar will succeed because it has to," said Johor ruling-party parliament member Nur Jazlan Mohamed.
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