BEIJING: Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Friday foreign direct invesment is important for the economic growth of the country.
He said the foreigners who had invested in the country would not be able to bring back to their own country the infrastructure that they had built in Malaysia.
Thus, those who said that the government was selling Nalaysia to China were talking “utter rubbish due to jealousy or out of spite”, he told the Malaysian diaspora and students at a dinner here Friday.
“My conscience is clear, and I am doing it for Malaysia and the rakyat in ensuring that the country’s economy is at a high level,” he said.
Najib, who is also Finance Minister, said he strived to get FDI to create high-paying jobs and better prospects for Malaysians.
If the economy did not grow, then Malaysians would have a problem getting a good jobs, he pointed out.
Najib advised Malaysian students in China not to be inward and insular but to make friends with others and to understand the Chinese culture and civilisation, and learn what made them tick and what made them different from others.
He said that despite the slowdown in the world economy, China’s economy was growing at 6.5 per cent annually.
Najib received a courtesy call from Governor of Hebei Province Zhang Qingwei.
He also attended a briefing by Datuk Lim Chee Wah, founder and chairman of Genting Resort Secret Garden, on the investment in Zhangjiakou to develop the mountain top area as a world-famous tourist destination and the venue for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The briefing was also attended by the master planner and architect of the project, Lim Keong Wee.
Genting Resort’s Genting Snow Park has been selected as the venue for the Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboarding events.
The prime minister left for home later yesterday. — Bernama