M’sia to stay business and market friendly – PM

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will to strive to be even more business and market friendly, while improving transparency, accountability and efficiency, said Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said Malaysia had many investments and incentives in place to ensure the country captured a good share of the new global economy.

“The Securities Commission, Bursa Malaysia, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Finance Ministry, have continuously introduced measures to further increase the dynamism of our capital market.

“I can assure the introduction of further measures in the near future,” he said in his keynote address at the opening of Invest Malaysia 2018 here yesterday.

The two-day 14th Invest Malaysia is co-organised by Bursa Malaysia Bhd and Maybank. The event is held on an annual basis.

It has attracted 61 local companies, ranging from large to mid-capital public listed companies with a market capitalisation of RM767.6 billion.

Najib reiterated that Malaysia’s strong position today was the result of tough decisions taken by the government, which also saw the diversification of sources of income.

“We spared Malaysia from any suffering following the massive drop in the price of petrofuels by reducing the reliance on oil and gas revenue from 41 percent in 2009 to 14 percent today.

“That truly saved Malaysia. If we were still so reliant on oil and gas revenue, it would have been catastrophic,” he said.

He also said implementation of the goods and services tax was a difficult move, but a necessary and far-sighted decision and the right thing to do, despite the fact that it was unpopular.

The Prime Minister also urged investors to invest in Malaysia’s potential and be part of its success.