Global
In the global perspective, Iskandar Malaysia’s development must be viewed in the context of the challenges presented by trade and service liberalisation which has had tremendous impact on the movement of capital and skilled workforce, development of ICT and flow of information.

The development of the Iskandar Malaysia responds to these challenges with the realisation that economic prosperity in modern times depends on being globally competitive. Hence, the Iskandar Malaysia is positioned as an "international city" to decrease trade barriers and increase human mobility and international financing, which greatly influence the activities of international corporations.

Regional
In the regional perspective, the positive development of Iskandar Malaysia can be seen through air and sea linkages within Asia-Pacific countries and Malaysia's membership to the Indonesia-Malaysia-Singapore Growth Triangle (IMS-GT).

The IMS-GT originally included Singapore, Johor and the province of Riau in Indonesia. It later added the Malaysian States of Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang, Indonesia's West Sumatera province, South Sumatera, Bengkulu, Jambi, Lampung and West Kalimantan. IMS-GT is geared towards increasing economic competitiveness, integration and growth through comparative exploitation, economics of scale and productivity linkages.

With market forces leading the way in IMS-GT strategies, the private sector acts as a driving force and the government, the facilitator. Concentrating on economic relations between Johor and Singapore and between Singapore and Riau, especially Batam, the IMS-GT has great advantages to Johor as it is next to Singapore. An Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) member country, Singapore has a 4.2 million population as part of the extended Iskandar Malaysia population threshold.

Indonesia, especially Batam, is quickly becoming Southeast Asia's fastest growing offshore manufacturing center thanks to its 750 multinational manufacturing companies that are represented in 20 industrial estates. They employ nearly 200,000 Indonesians, besides more than 3,200 foreign workers from around the globe.
With two direct road links to Singapore and sea links to Batam, Iskandar Malaysia is in an excellent position to take advantage of the IMS-GT, which allows for international cooperation, human mobility and tourism.