The SIJORI was established in 1994 between three countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, to strengthen economic links in the region and optimise the complementarity between the three countries. It started off as the SIJORI Growth Triangle in 1989, which includes Singapore, Johor (Malaysia), and Riau Archipelago, a part of Riau Islands Province (Indonesia).[1]
The SIJORI Growth Triangle is a partnership arrangement between Singapore, Johor (in Malaysia), and Riau Islands (in Indonesia) that combines the competitive strengths of the three areas to make the subregion more attractive to regional and international investors. More specifically, it links the infrastructure, capital, and expertise of Singapore with the natural and labour resources and the abundance of land of Johor and Riau.
The SIJORI Growth Triangle was first publicly announced in 1989 by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong. The 'triangle of growth' was envisioned to be a key component of the Singapore regionalisation scheme of the 1980s and 1990s, relocating labour-intensive industries to neighbouring places such as the Malaysian state of Johor (known as the Iskandar Development Region) and the island of Batam in the nearby Indonesian province of Riau (at the time, before splitting off as a part of Riau Islands province in 2004).
As more Malaysian and Indonesian states joined the grouping, the IMS-GT was formed to formalise the new grouping. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on 17 December 1994 by the representatives of the participating countries; Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Malaysia' s International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz and Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Trade and Industry Hartono.
Batam is a tax free export zone rather than a free port, therefore much industry is limited to international exports. Batam has also become an alternate air transport hub as Java's airports are congested. Some 62,000 Singaporeans visited Batam in January 2012, compared with stronger links to Johor, some 70,000 daily.[2]
| Administrative division | Area (km2) | Population | Density | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=left style="border-top:3px solid grey; span=3" | JOHOR STATE, MALAYSIA | ||||
| Johor Bahru District | 1,066 | 1,638,219 | 1,540/km2 | ||
| Kulai District | 756 | 251,650 | 332/km2 | ||
| align=left style="border-top:3px solid grey;" | SINGAPORE | ||||
| Singapore[3] | 716 | 5,612,300 | 7,796/km2 | ||
| align=left style="border-top:3px solid grey;" | RIAU ISLANDS PROVINCE, INDONESIA | ||||
| Batam City | 1,010.88 | 1,236,399 | 1,223/km2 | ||
| Tanjung Pinang City | 144.6 | 204,735 | 1,415.9/km2 | ||
| 1,318.2 | 154,584 | 117/km2 | |||
| Karimun Regency | 912.75 | 227,277 | 249/km2 | ||
| align=left style="border-top:3px solid grey;" | Entire Land Area | 6,891 | 9,325,164 | 1,353/km2 |
sources: (Budan Pusat Statistik 2010 Census Indonesia, Statistics Singapore, Statistics Malaysia)
For GDP stats, Riau Island's Quarterly GDP output was Rp26.510.648,31 mln (Q1/14, US$2.3 billion or US$9 billion annual)[4] Singapore's Quarterly GDP was 95,959.1 mln (Q1/14, $76.57 billion or US$310 billion annual)[5] and Johor Bahru state was RM24,452 per capita (entire 2012, US$26 billion annual).[6]