This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 14, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Assets Bhd (BAssets) is bringing in the participation of the Foshan City Bureau of Commerce (FCBC) as it transforms its duty-free zone in Berjaya Waterfront, Johor Baru, to become a Southeast Asia Duty Free Trade City (SEADFTC).

BAssets’ deemed wholly-owned unit Berjaya Waterfront Sdn Bhd inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) yesterday with the FCBC, the agency responsible for commerce development and management of the government of Foshan City in Guangdong, China, to collaborate in fostering trade and investment from Foshan City to the SEADFTC project.

Under the MoU, both parties will establish a framework for collaboration with discussions, exchange of information, development, and investment updates for relevant commercial activities, BAssets announced yesterday.

The FCBC will organise trade visits to the duty-free zone to explore and conduct trading and investment activities with the intention of promoting the project as a strategic initiative for Foshan City investors in Malaysia, it added.

Currently, the duty-free zone in Berjaya Waterfront has 35,000 sq m of retail space and a hotel with a convention centre, coupled with a ferry terminal that transports passengers from Batam and Bintan islands in Indonesia.

Berjaya Waterfront director Datuk Zurainah Musa told reporters after the MoU was inked that Berjaya Group had invested in numerous infrastructure projects in Foshan City in the past few years.

The group intends to foster commercial relations between Malaysia and China, and that there are plans to expand Berjaya’s duty-free zone in the pipeline, she said.

“So this is a new joint venture where Foshan will come to Berjaya Waterfront to do business,” she said.

Also present at the ceremony was FCBC deputy director Tong Quanqing, who said Foshan City will not forget its “friend” Berjaya Group as the company had invested in Foshan City over the past 10 years, and the MoU presented an opportunity for both parties to work together again.

He also indicated that Foshan City and the Chinese government are eyeing further investments in Iskandar Malaysia.

“It (MoU) also promotes the message for enterprises to work together in the wider Iskandar Malaysia.

“We believe that the Iskandar region will be a very important region for Foshan City and China to work together closely within this region of Southeast Asia,” he said.

He added that Foshan City’s move to invest in Malaysia is part of China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative — which focuses on connectivity and cooperation between China and countries in Eurasia along five land and sea routes, based on the traditional Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-century Maritime Silk Road — and regional cooperation.

“Based on the ‘One Belt One Road’ intiative, Foshan City has been conducting investments overseas, and globalised companies have been investing in conducting trade in Asean, especially Malaysia,” he said.

“As we enter the third phase of China-Asean cooperation, we will be enhancing cooperation in areas such as trade and investment in projects such as industrial cities,” he added.