Yes, I wrote about this quite some time ago when some people said to me that with the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP), Malaysia will lose many Singaporean visitors and that demand for Iskandar properties will go down. Increase of Vehicle Entry Permit and Iskandar property demand goes down? Yes, I wrote this way back in 2014. While I have no idea if Singaporeans love Iskandar properties as much as Chinese (China) investors, the registration has shown that Singaporeans are prepared to continue dropping by Iskandar. A total of over 200,000 Singapore-registered vehicles have registered under the Malaysia Transport Ministry’s Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP). The implementation date? Undecided yet.
According to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, VEP would help to weed out cloned cars and foreign-registered vehicles that entered Malaysia without exiting as well as road users with unpaid compounds. He reiterated, “This is not a move to discriminate against Singapore as the same charges will be introduced in stages at other entry points in the country, at the borders with Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.” Yes, our southern neighbour has also responded that if the VEP is discriminatory in nature, it will reciprocate. Singapore’s Ministry of Transport (MOT) said, “we will match it in some form”. Currently, Singapore charges S$35 (RM109) for Malaysian-registered cars entering Singapore once they exceed the 10 free days per year limit.
On a longer term, I believe the exchange of cars and people between both countries would increase tremendously. Regardless of VEPs from Malaysia or Singapore, unless we are talking about a really prohibitive charge, we will continue to be even more integrated. One major sign? High Speed Rail agreement will be signed in December 2016. Note, it’s agreement and no longer just a memorandum. Second major sign? Temasek is huge investor in Iskandar. Other signs? Do read more about M+S Pte Ltd, Rapid Transit System and even Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s message to Singaporean SMEs to also consider Iskandar for their expansion. Happy believing.
written on 27 Nov 2016
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