Invest in Malaysia, urges Zahid

COLOMBO: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has called on investors and industry players from Sri Lanka to pick Malaysia as their preferred investment destination.

Zahid said business people, especially investors, tended to overlook the opportunities available in Malaysia.

He said Sri Lanka achieved foreign direct investments (FDI) worth some US$2 billion (RM8.1 billion) from companies in various sectors in Malaysia.

“To create a win-win situation, we hope more investors from Sri Lanka will come forward to invest in Malaysia. I am sure the investment climate, along with other incentives offered in Malaysia, will be able to attract them,” he said in his speech during a dinner with Malaysian Diaspora in Sri Lanka and Friends of Malaysia here on Thursday.

Zahid said the Malaysian High Commission office in Sri Lanka should play an important role by guiding investors from Malaysia to promote their businesses here as well as informing them of the business opportunities in Sri Lanka.

“During my courtesy call on Sri Lanka’s president (Maithripala Sirisena), he told me his government was prepared to allocate land to Malaysians if there were viable investments.

“This (the process of owning a land) will be done according to the legal procedures in Sri Lanka,” he said, adding that the provision was compounded by the incentives pledged by the Sri Lankan government to Malaysian investors.

He said among the potential areas for Malaysians to tap into were infrastructure development, civil engineering field and the hotel and hospitality industry.

Zahid said Malaysia and Sri Lanka had enjoyed a strong relationship since 1957, with next year set to mark 60 years of diplomatic ties between the countries.

“Both countries have established close relationship diplomatically and in cultural areas,” he said, adding that Sri Lanka’s president, Maithripala Sirisena, had indicated that he would visit Malaysia on Dec 16 to strengthen ties between the countries.

On another matter, Zahid said he hoped more Sri Lankan tourists would choose Malaysia as their favourite holiday destination.

“I hope the many promotional activities will attract more people from Sri Lanka to come to Malaysia for their vacation.

“Those who have made Sri Lanka home should also come back for a visit and see the changes that have taken place,” he said.

Malaysia recorded about 30,000 tourists from Sri Lanka last year.

As of June this year, more than 13,000 Sri Lankan holidaymakers had arrived in Malaysia. By T.N. Alagesh