Najib to announce major Mideast investment in Malaysia today

Written by Ellina Badr
Wednesday, 30 September 2009 00:03

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on Sept 29 he will make a "major announcement" on a Middle East investment in Malaysia today, as the country tries to bring in foreign capital amid this year's nosedive in foreign direct investment.

"FDIs were at an all-time high in 2008, with 73.4% of a total US$18.1 billion (RM63 billion) manufacturing project investments approved made up of foreign investments.

"But FDIs have nosedived this year, so we are trying to attract capital from capital surplus countries, like the Middle East," Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said at the Forbes CEO conference here last night.

He added that on his recent break to the south of France, he had struck relationships with Middle Eastern investors, who frequented the holiday destination.

"It's all about building relationships," Najib said in a dialogue session with Forbes chairman and CEO, and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine, Steve Forbes.

Asked by Forbes to reveal the identity of the Middle East investor, Najib said even his cabinet had not been informed of it yet.

Najib said Malaysia was also very keen on attracting investments from India, China, and its traditional Western trading partners as well.

On the government's plans to transform the economy into a high-income model, he said industries like pharmaceuticals, aerospace and renewable energy would "fit in" the new model that would have customisable incentives.

On the various economic regions, Najib said on the Iskandar region in particular, the government was currently discussing with Singapore, with the Singaporean prime minister having agreed in principle, for the two countries to collaborate on an iconic investment in Johor.

He said the "free and easy" movement of people, goods and services between Singapore and Malaysia would make Iskandar "really boom".

He also said the country's medical tourism industry here lacked specialists and it was key to train and bring back home Malaysian specialists who were practising overseas.

Najib also said the government was approving the establishment of two mega Islamic banks here, each with a paid-up capital of US$1 billion.

Commenting on the government's approval of two aluminium smelters in Sarawak, he said the government did not mind either way if the smelters decided to merge or operate separately.

Meanwhile, on free trade and regional cooperation, Najib said the country was still "quite keen" to complete a free trade agreement with the US, but sensed that the Obama administration was not ready to indicate its position on the matter.