The IDR is the brainchild of PrimeMinister Abdullah Badawi.
Its five-person advisory panel includes Malaysia's 'sugar king', Robert Kuok.
The sectors within the IDR to be exempted from ethnic quotas are creative industries, educational services, financial advisory and consulting, health care, logistics and tourism-related services.
Big tax holidays will also be given for the IDR, which covers an area of 2,217 sq km - threetimes the size of Singapore.
It has been described as an intended regional metropolis, a Shenzhen of sorts to Singapore.
Johor chief minister Ghani Othman has said he did not think the quota exemption would anger the Malays.
'We agree with it,' he said.
'It is for defined activities in a very definedarea.'
WELFARE FUND
To offset the waiver, companies will contribute to a fund that will pay for social welfare projects within theregion.
Ten-year tax exemptions are available to companies that start up before 2015, who will be able to raise money globally and freely hire foreign staff members.
Similar incentives were offered with Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor in the late 1990s, but the IDR is far larger.
And it is right next to Singapore, with far cheaperland.
As Malaysia's biggest real-estate project, it will encompass roads, offices, homes, theme parks, hotels, factories and hospitals.
The project is led by Khazanah Nasional, the state investment unit, which estimates that it will require RM382 billion ($168b) through 2025.
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