Poised to drive up economy

Zafrul to restore investors’ confidence with restructures

JAYA: Regaining the confidence of investors is high on the list of priorities of Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

The newly appointed International Trade and Industry Minister said there are three main tasks that he would be focusing on.

“As the global economy is expected to slow down next year, my top three priorities are firstly, to ensure trade remains a robust key growth driver to sustain our economic growth momentum.

“Secondly, we must restore investors’ confidence and increase foreign direct investment (FDI), which has long been a key building block of economic resilience, providing us with one of the largest sources of foreign exchange.

“And thirdly, we need to look at the various bilateral and multilateral trade agreements to ensure their formulation and implementation will be of real value and advantage to participants in the Malaysian supply chain, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises,” he said in a statement yesterday.

With his experience in the government and corporate sectors, Tengku Zafrul would ensure his ministry focuses on making the country a preferred investment destination.

He will also propose the setting up of an investment fund to attract high-value investments when Budget 2023 is presented again in Parliament.

“These efforts will be matched with human capital development measures that will contribute to the restructuring of Malaysia’s trade ecosystem in the medium and long term,” he said.