KL to consider joint investment with Singapore

MALAYSIA will consider a proposal by Singapore’s Economic Development Board to invest jointly in other countries, visiting Penang Deputy Chief Minister, Datuk Dr Ibrahim Saad, said yesterday.

Describing the suggestion as being “very sound”, he said that he would raise the proposal with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Anwar Ibrahim and the private sector.

Said Datuk Dr Ibrahim, who is also a member of the Umno Supreme Council: “It draws us nearer in terms of economic links.If there are joint ventures with Japanese and American companies, what is the problem of having joint ventures with Singapore companies?”

The private sector in Malaysia and Singapore, he said, could link up and invest in countries like China and Vietnam. He spoke to reporters after meeting EDB’s managing director Tan Chin Nam.

Datuk Dr Ibrahim, 47, who arrived on Sunday, is here on a week-long visit as the first recipient of the Lee Kuan Yew Exchange Fellowship. The fellowship, in honour of the Senior Minister’s contributions to the country, brings outstanding individuals to Singapore.

He said that competition for investment in the region did not affect economic relations between the two countries because both attracted different types of investments.

He pointed out: “Singapore has a different niche. It is a service centre for South-east Asia and the rest of the world.”

He added that Singapore businessmen could help small and medium sized industries in Penang develop by sub-contracting products to them.

They should also consider Penang as an important destination for investment because the two shared a common history of belonging to the Straits Settlement.

“After all, Penang is only fifty minutes away by air from Singapore,” he said.