‘WE’RE NOT BEING COLONISED BY CHINA’
All countries need FDIs, says minister
TRANSPORT Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai has slammed allegations that Malaysia is overly dependent on foreign direct investments (FDIs) from China.
He said Malaysia was not being “colonised” by China through FDIs, adding that the allegations were merely political manipulation.
Although FDIs from China had increased, Liow said China’s was not the largest in the country.
“We have Japan, the United States and even Asean countries.
“Some people accuse Malaysia of being colonised by China through FDIs. That is not true. That is political manipulation,” he said at the launch of the 1st Asia Retail and O2O Conference and Expo 2017 here yesterday.
Liow was commenting on the opposition’s claims that Malaysia was being too dependent on FDIs from China for economic growth.
While Malaysia welcomed FDIs from all countries, the MCA president said he was happy that China had chosen Malaysia as one of its FDI destinations.
“We are more focused on developing Malaysia’s economy. All these (accusations) will not hold water. People will understand that all countries depend on FDIs.”
On another development, Liow said Malaysia was well positioned and on the right track to become the logistics hub in the region, adding that efforts including the creation of the Digital Free Trade Zone at KLIA Aeropolis and upgrading of several sea ports nationwide were set to boost e-commerce growth.
“These initiatives will greatly facilitate the involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises in e-commerce, and create new opportunities for them to tap overseas markets for their products.”
He said Malaysia’s strategic location as logistics hub would be an advantage for overseas sellers to send their products to customers in the west or east. Bernama