KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia and Singapore leaders signed an agreement on Tuesday to make a special economic zone to attract global fund and ease the cross-border flow of goods and people.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim called the Johor-Singapore special economic zone a “distinctive initiative” that harnesses each other’s strengths and deepens linkages in a globe that is becoming more polarized.

“Very rarely you discover two countries working together as a throng,” he told a joint information conference after the signing ritual. “These two countries have a ordinary schedule, to assist one another, to work and advantage from each other’s strengths… This is the recent attitude we must have other than talking always in terms of competition and unnecessary conflicts.”

The zone, in Malaysia’s southernmost Johor state, will propose responsibility breaks and include several flagship areas for various sectors, from manufacturing and aerospace to tourism, vigor and healthcare. Officials are targeting to attract 50 projects within the economic zone in the first five years, creating 20,000 talented jobs. The shift is a boon to Singapore, a global monetary hub with scarce natural resources and land.

Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said the neighbors’ powerful linkages are an significant foundation and building block for an integrated region. Malaysia is the chairman this year of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“Where ASEAN is concerned, we are talking about not just more trade and fund linkages, but infrastructure linkages including the ASEAN power grid. These are all excellent projects that Singapore will back and we aspiration under Malaysia’s leadership, we can make excellent advancement,” Wong said.

“The greater competition we face is not among ourselves within ASEAN, it’s outside of the region… so ASEAN has to arrive together, look at ways in which we can enhance our worth proposition and be competitive together,” he said.