KUANTAN: Foreign investments including from China will not deprive Malaysians of opportunities to secure jobs or participate in the projects.
In panning claims that Malaysia was selling its “sovereignty” to China through the East Coast Railway Link (ECRL) and the mammoth Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP) projects, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said such endeavours would only serve benefit both countries.
“Foreign investments will create a win-win situation by bringing benefits to both parties (investors and Malaysians) that includes 30 percent commitment for the ECRL contracts to be awarded to local contractors.
“Investors have to adhere to certain rules which will help safeguard our interest, including hiring local manpower in their workforce.
“Now, we are in a borderless world and Malaysia cannot reject foreign investments, including those from China which would spur a positive economic outlook, including Gross Domestic Product growth and create job opportunities,” said Mustapa, who is also Umno supreme council, in his speech to open the Indera Mahkota Umno divisional meeting yesterday.
Mustapa said foreign investments should not be turned into a political tool, as they were part of the process to turn Malaysia into a developed high-income nation.
Furthermore, despite the opposition’s negative spotlight on China, Mustapa said the economic giant is ranked 11th largest investor to Malaysia.
“Japan and the United States remain our top investors while Singapore is the biggest in real estate (in Malaysia). China ranks as 11th largest investor.
“Foreign investors and investments are nothing new as they have been at our shores since 200 years ago. Even during (opposition leader Tun) Dr Mahathir (Mohamad) Malaysia received a lot of investments from Japan and there were no issues (talks of selling sovereignty).
“Malaysia’s investments in China is bigger than their investments here. Malaysia-based Parkson (Parkson Holdings Bhd) has around 60 stores in China, then we have Sime Darby, UMW Holdings Bhd and Khazanah Nasional.”
Earlier, Mustapa reminded Umno leaders to identify fence sitters and persuade them to vote for Barisan Nasional in the 14th General Election (GE14) to allow the party form a stronger government.
“The opposition is spreading various fake news including that the country was going bankrupt. Previously, they claimed the Lynas plant (rare earth refinery) in Kuantan posed threats of radiation, but everything was untrue. We need to convince the people with proper explanations and accurate facts.”