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Malaysia is still able to attract foreign investments amid the current global economic uncertainty, says Malaysian International Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Micci) president Simon Whitelaw.
He said there was still huge untapped business potential in Malaysia in addition to spacious growth opportunities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.
"Business players should not be alarmed, but instead be more productive and efficient in cushioning the impact of the current economic downturn," he said.
Whitelaw said there was also a need to get SMEs to be more involved, for example in developing exports.
He added that at present, SMEs contributed just under 70% of Malaysia's exports.
He told reporters this after the official launch of the National Corporate Ethics Awards (NCEA) 2015 today.
He said cost-wise, although China and India were seen as more competitive, Malaysia was still seeing foreign companies setting up businesses in the country.
Tax incentives for principal hubs and projects that invest in innovation, technology, involving the creation of high-income jobs, have been introduced to accelerate the momentum in attracting high-value investments.
Malaysia only have five years left to achieve Vision 2020. More and more multi-national companies (MNCs) have supply chains spanning across various jurisdictions. Increasingly, MNCs are opting to set up a Principal Hub to house senior executives and decision-makers that will drive and manage their global supply chains.
These tax incentives will help in attracting MNCs to house their high-value functions and operations in Malaysia. This will bring numerous economic benefits, amongst others:
(1) creating high-income jobs,
(2) potentially influencing them to consider Malaysia as their first choice to source any support required for their global operations,
(3) helping stimulate ancillary services, such as logistics, banking services, etc.
The potential multiplier benefits to the economy are aplenty. Budget 2015 also introduced a 200% capital allowance on automation expenditure to encourage automation, especially for labour-intensive industries.
"So, lets not be too negative," Whitelaw said.
The NCEA 2015 is a private sector-led initiative designed to identify companies who can serve as role models while stimulating a proactive anti-bribery role and ethics in the private sector.
As Malaysia's economy continues to reap the benefits of international partnerships, local property development firms are creating opportunities across the country for overseas investors. "Malaysia's property sector continues to attract foreign investors, and still has significant growth potential," says Datuk Syed Mohamed Bin Syed Ibrahim, president and CEO of Iskandar Investment Berhad. The company has played a key role in creating Iskandar Malaysia, a development region in Johor state that lies on Singapore's opposite shore across the Strait of Johor. Iskandar is a mix of brownfield and greenfield developments covering an area of around 2,200 square kilometers, three times the size of Singapore.
Datuk Syed Mohamed's role as CEO includes the strategic planning and development with federal and state agencies, global partners and other key stakeholders of a number of crucial and "catalyzing" projects that have contributed towards Iskandar Malaysia's ongoing growth.
He says that Iskandar Investment Berhad's mission is to imbed within Iskandar Malaysia strategic projects to turn almost 2,300 square kilometer development area into a world-class city by 2025. "This involves tapping into the Malaysian government's National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) and adopting several incentivized clusters such as infrastructure development, tourism and leisure, education, healthcare and wellness, and the creative industries to drive population and business growth. Iskandar Investment has also created Edu-City?, a broad multi-campus community that has attracted the attention of some of the most renowned foreign universities from Australia, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands; we also welcome Chinese universities to be part of this ambitious program."
Iskandar is flanked by five ports, three in Malaysia and two in Singapore, and is close to two airports, one in Malaysia and the other in Singapore. It also sits between two major highway bridges linking Malaysia and Singapore.
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