Malaysian Govt Always Fair To Local Investors, Says Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 (Bernama) -- There is a wrong perception that the government provides special treatment to foreign investors compared with local investors, said International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed Tuesday. The Malaysian government always gives equal treatment to both local and foreign investors subject to the conditions laid down, he said. "Foreign investors are given the encouragement towards certain industries such as strategic industries, new and high technology fields such as alternative energy sources, advance electronics, biotechology, photonics, medical equipment, aerospace and petrochemicals," he said during a question and answer session at the Lower House of Parliament sitting Tuesday. He was replying to a question from Ahmad Hamzah, a member of Parliament who wanted to know the measures and incentives taken by the ministry to drive direct domestic investments (DDIs) along with the privileges given to foreign direct investments (FDIs). He also wanted to know the efforts taken to raise FDIs against a lack of skilled workforce, low technology level, bureaucracy and a yet-to-mature small and medium sized industry. The government, which is aware of a perception of "differences" between DDI and FDI, is studying several proposals to help domestic investors raise their investments in Malaysia, Mustapa said. A committee has been formed to look into the proposals before endorsing it in the near future, he said. Through the Economic Transformation Plan (ETP), the government is also aiming to get a 92 per cent investment contribution from the private sector for the RM1.4 trillion investments targetted for the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) from the years 2010 till 2020. "From the total private sector investments aimed at, DDI is estimated to contribute 73 per cent and FDI 27 per cent." Mustapa said under the 10th Malaysia Plan, the government is looking at an average investment of RM115 billion from 2011 to 2015 while the investment aimed at last year was RM83 billion. FDIs last year rose to RM32.9 billion from RM29.3 billion in 2010. "This is a highly encouraging growth and shows that Malaysia has retained its position as a competitive destination for foreign investments," he said. (US$1=RM3.02) -- BERNAMA