Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city state with high prices and little vacant land.
The to-be agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbours, expected to cost US$123 million ($158.38 million) and produce 10,000 tons of fresh produce annually. It's luring Singapore's farmers with promises of cheaper land, labour, and energy just over the border.
Wei is confident of securing farmers for the 200-acre site, promising they can "reduce their cost of setup and operations" there. Representing a joint venture between his agri-tech firm Archisen and Southern Catalyst backed by Malaysia's Ministry of Finance, he aims to get them going by the third quarter of this year, offering 25-year land leases bundled with infrastructure and electricity.
"It's an aggressive timeline," Wei admitted, as earth diggers roamed the plot clearing it of palm trees. But wait any longer and some of those ventures may already be out of business, he said.
Read more at The Edge Singapore
