North England Woos M'sian Investors In Property, Energy & Healthcare Sectors

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 (Bernama) -- Malaysian investors are welcomed to invest in the North of England as an alternative to the expensive investment in London. Manchester's Inward Investment Agency Chief Executive, Tim Newns, said as the population in Manchester has been increasing at 20 per cent annually for the past 10 years, there was a huge demand in the areas of property, energy, healthcare and advanced manufacturing. Manchester, the largest conurbation in the North of England, currently has a population of three million people. "We anticipate the population to grow at 25 per cent in the next 10 years. With a strong economic growth of over three per cent for Manchester, which is better than other Group of Seven (G7) countries and higher than the United Kingdom's (UK) average growth, we are keen to collaborate with international investors to invest here. "We want to be able to learn and work together in some of those developments with them (investors), and hopefully, there will also be opportunities for our businesses to invest here in Malaysia," he told Bernama. G7 is an international organisation which facilitates economic cooperation among the world's largest industrial nations, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States. Newns said this after a networking meeting with The Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KLSCCCI) and the Northern Powerhouse investment delegates here, Thursday. He was part of a delegation of 17 officials on a three-day mission led by Head of Paid Service of Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Manchester City Council Chief Executive Officer, Sir Howard Bernstein, and Councillor Judith Blake from Leeds City Council. Manchester generated an economic output of £34.8 billion in 2012 -- a three per cent increase compared with 2011. Asked why Malaysia was chosen as one of the destinations to woo investors to the North of England, he said Malaysia had the potential as there were many good real estate companies that might find the opportunity interesting, thus expanding their business there. He added that looking at ASEAN as a strong growing market, it was natural for the UK government to choose Malaysia, aside from Malaysia being a part of the Commonwealth countries which have maintained strong ties with each other. -- BERNAMA