Get your investment act together, says World Bank rep
PETALING JAYA: A World Bank representative to Malaysia has called for better coordination among government agencies if Malaysia wants to woo more foreign investment.
World Bank country manager Firas Raad said there was “significant duplication” and overlapping roles among the 32 agencies promoting foreign investment, creating a “fragmented landscape” that may drive investors away.
“Malaysia would continue to perform below expectations if the current uncoordinated approach continues,” he said.
Malaysia must enhance its competitiveness if it wants to seize new opportunities in global trade and investment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.
Putrajaya should also establish clear investment policy goals, as well as “build a more targeted, automated and transparent incentive system”.
Raad’s comments come in the wake of a transport expert’s observation that red tape was a major factor in Malaysia’s falling level of foreign investment.
FMT columnist Rosli Khan said many agencies were set up to better assist investors or business, but had instead made it tougher for the private sector to invest and operate.
Economics professor Yeah Kim Leng of Sunway University called for a review of the various regulatory agencies especially if they caused the country’s investment climate to be less attractive than that of neighbouring countries.
He said regulatory agencies should create a stable, safe and secure operating environment and a level playing field for investors.
“However, if bureaucratic requirements and red tape abound and hinder ease and raise the cost of doing business, then the regulatory agency becomes part of the problem rather than the solution to economic progress,” he said.
Shankaran Nambiar of the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said “we need a major overhaul in thinking” about the regulatory framework.
The old way of offering fiscal incentives and utilities at a discounted rate will not work, he said.
“The recent dip in FDI is simply symptomatic of long-standing problems,” he said, referring to Malaysia’s unfavourable position in foreign investment ranking among Asean countries.
Expert Cited
