BANGKOK, June 21 — Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today said that the government will streamline rules, regulations and laws pertaining to business in the country in order to facilitate investment from foreign countries.
“Although we are a new government, the policy is to still be business-friendly.
“So when people come to invest in Malaysia, the government will help as much as possible, of course, there are rules, regulations and laws that need to be complied with but we are streamlining all these things,” he said in his keynote address during a dialogue session with Thailand corporate leaders here as part of his four-day working visit.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia has always welcomed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and helped educate foreign investors on Malaysia’s areas of expertise and markets.
“Malaysia has changed from being an agriculture country with a little bit of mining to become an industrialised country producing industrial goods. But it is still far from satisfactory because we are still importing products from outside the region.
“I think within the Asean region, with 600 million people, we form perhaps the second biggest market after China, so there is big market, maybe the per capita income is slow... but even with low capita income, the needs of the poor people are quite big and eventually with trade and business growing, people will become enriched and we will have a good market for ourselves,” he said.
On Malaysia and Thailand's business relationship, Dr Mahathir said the former has benefitted plenty from the partnership.
“Obviously, if we want to increase our trades we have to look at what we can get from elsewhere... which we can get from each other.
“Between Thailand and Malaysia there is a big population, also if we take into consideration Brunei Darussalam - Indonesia - Malaysia - the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA)... the number of people living in this area is very big and therefore we have a very big market,” he added.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia is looking forward to more Thai investors coming into Malaysia.
“At the moment I think Malaysia’s investment in Thailand is more than Thailand’s investment in Malaysia, but we see that your productivity and your skills are very good... so there is an opportunity for more Thailand investment in Malaysia, this way we can achieve good growth for both nations,” he told Thai corporate leaders who were led by Chairman of the Joint Standing Committee on Commerce Industry and Banking of Thailand Kalin Sarasin.
Dr Mahathir said Malaysia and Thailand, being neighbors and so close to each other, is reason enough for increased trade between both countries.
“The communication is easy, we know each other well.
“When we do business we like to do business with people we know. With strangers... sometimes we are not sure what will happen with strangers,” he said adding that such dialogues were important to maintain a good relationship not only within government officials but also the private sectors.
Dr Mahathir also pointed out that Malaysia and Thailand have taken pains to better facilitate two-way trade when both countries agreed to commence 24-hour operation at Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) Bukit Kayu Hitam and Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Sadao which started on June 18.
“I am quite sure this will help increase cross-border trade between both countries, with good roads and railway facilities and better communication we will be able to improve the performance of our trade,” he added.
