Singapore, Malaysia eye Indonesia for expanded special economic zone, trade minister Gan says
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During the 9th Asean Conference on Thursday, Gan took part in a panel with Malaysian Deputy Trade Minister Liew Chin Tong and Indonesia's Deputy Investment Cooperation Minister Tirta Nugraha Mursitama.
Gan mentioned that he met his counterparts from Malaysia and Indonesia last week to discuss bringing the Batam, Bintan, and Karimun (BBK) Indonesian islands into the initiative to strengthen the Singapore-Johor-Riau (Sijori) Growth Triangle.
Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong walks with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in January on the same day they announced the launch of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. Photo: Reuters
'If we bring in the Sijori … BKK, Johor and Singapore together, instead of two, now we have three. So two is better than one, and three is actually better than two,' Gan said, who is also Singapore's deputy prime minister.
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