MELAKA: Local investors with the necessary expertise and capital are asked to emulate their counterparts in Korea and Japan in stimulating the industrial sector in Malaysia by setting up factories.
Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the time had come for local investors to play their role in domestic investments as was being done by entrepreneurs in the two countries to generate their respective national economy.
FOR A FAN: Dr Mahathir (right) signs his autograph on a book written by him for conference representative Ibu Drs Irma Alamshah Dayaputra after delivering a luncheon speech. — Bernama photo
“This is because the attraction to foreign direct investment (FDI) which previously found Malaysia to be very conducive, has now shifted to the other countries such as China and Vietnam,” he said when replying to a question from a delegate after delivering the keynote address at the Women in Business Convention, here yesterday.
The convention was being held for the first time on the initiative of the Malaysian Bumiputera Women Entrepreneurs Association (Usahanita) to forge relations between local and foreign entrepreneurs in small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
According to Dr Mahathir, among the obstacles to the country’s FDI currently was the high salary or wages paid to industrial workers in the country compared with the neighbouring countries.
He said Malaysia had attracted the FDI previously because the salary paid then was low compared to the current wages.
“That’s why the government, through the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, had been urged to introduce an easy credit scheme and not to impose high taxes to encourage local entrepreneurs to invest locally,” he said.
Responding to a question from a participant from Vietnam, who wondered why he had chosen the bakery business despite having vast knowledge and a ‘hands-on’ attitude, he said he was attracted to the aroma of the bread while visiting a shopping complex in Japan many years back. Dr Mahathir’s response drew loud laughter from the crowd.
The three-day convention, which started Tuesday, is attended by 350 local women entrepreneurs and participated by 13 countries including Australia, Switzerland and Singapore. — Bernama