Representative image showing flag of Malaysia.
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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia will offer tax breaks and incentives in a bid to lure investments to Forest City, a $100 billion development backed by Chinese developer Country Garden Holdings, state media reported on Friday citing the second finance minister.
Second Finance Minister Amir Hamzah Azizan said the incentives would include a concessionary corporate tax rate of between zero and 5%, special individual income tax rates of 15 per cent for skilled-workers and Malaysians working in the area, as well as a zero percent tax rate for family offices, state news agency Bernama reported.
"These incentives are expected to attract businesses, financial institutions, and high-net-worth individuals," Bernama quoted Amir as saying.
The announcement comes as Malaysia's King Sultan Ibrahim visits China to court further support for infrastructure developments in the Southeast Asian country.
Forest City, a joint venture between the embattled Country Garden and a private Malaysian company backed by Sultan Ibrahim, has been beset by problems ranging from environmental to regulatory issues since its inception in 2016.
Malaysia designated Forest City as a special financial zone in August 2023 to boost foreign investment and economic growth in the area.
Built on four reclaimed islands in the southern Johor state next to Singapore, Country Garden has so far invested about 20 billion ringgit ($240 million) in the project, Forest City said last year.
($1 = 4.1780 ringgit)