PM Wants Companies To Go Beyond To Become Regional Champions

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak wants to see more local companies emerge as regional champions as there were too many micro enterprises at present. "Companies need to go beyond to become champions, have to be innovative, use best business practices and have the ability to compete not on the basis of cheap labour," he said during a question and answer session at the Invest Malaysia 2012 conference here Tuesday. Najib said there were huge opportunities in the Information, Communication and Technology industry and, new venture projects as such here was a need for more venture capitalists to fund projects. On the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) with the United States, he said, Malaysia would like to become a member and hoped to be able to conclude the TPP in the near future. "We need to look at domestic requirements," he said. Najib also said within Asean, countries would need to move forward for greater integration. By changing rules, he said, it was a wrong direction as there was the risk of retaliation by countries within the region and this would undermine Asean integration. -- BERNAMA