KUALA LUMPUR – Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today took a swipe at Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali over the international trade and industry minister’s failure to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
The Umno Youth chief, speaking at the wing’s meeting in conjunction with the party’s annual general assembly, said the senior minister appears more interested in luring PKR members to join Bersatu, as what he had done last year.
Asyraf panned the Perikatan Nasional government for its poor management of an economy hit hard by Covid-19.
The former deputy minister said the reality is that the public is suffering and under immense financial pressure because of the bearish economy.
“How can we stabilise the economy if the legacy of policies by the (former) Pakatan Harapan administration that we had opposed is still being implemented? How can we remain stable if strategic government company assets are being sold?
“In fact, mega infrastructure projects to create economic multiplier effects have been cancelled.
“The public should ask the government, particularly the international trade and industry minister, about the strategic plan to attract foreign investors, besides him trying to fish for PKR defectors.
“Why is the economic recovery process taking so long? Neighbouring countries that have more (Covid-19) infections than us are showing faster economic growth and have received a lot of investments.”
He pointed to a World Bank official’s comment recently that Malaysia risks lagging behind other Southeast Asian countries when it comes to foreign investments.
A report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in January showed that Malaysia’s FDI dropped 68% last year, the worst performance in Asean.
“We used to be so strong in Bursa Malaysia, but the latest trend is that foreign investors are leaving our stock market in droves, whereas we were once the champion among the world’s stock markets,” said Asyraf.
He pointed out that tech giant IBM is shutting down its global delivery centre in Malaysia, while Toyota has plans to shift its operations facility to Indonesia.
And, Tesla and Google are reported to have invested billions of ringgit in Malaysia’s neighbours.
Asyraf said the nation has missed out on significant employment opportunities as a result of investments being pulled out.
“Imagine the feeling of 800,000 unemployed Malaysians, who can only sit and stare as investments pass by them while they are left without work, without income.”
He said the key to a strong economy lies in stable government policies, which are vital to building investor confidence and resilience.
Under Barisan Nasional’s more than 60 years at the helm, he said, Malaysians enjoyed stability in livelihood and mind. – The Vibes, March 27, 2021
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