PM woos Qatari investors

Meeting of minds: Dr Mahathir with Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attending an official welcoming ceremony in conjunction with his four-day official visit to Qatar. — Bernama

DOHA: Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad is confident that Malaysia can be an ideal destination for Qatari investors, mainly to access the broader Asean market.

The Prime Minister, who is on a four-day official visit to Qatar, welcomed more companies to explore business opportunities in Malaysia, citing oil and gas, chemical and chemical products, food processing, halal industry and Islamic banking and finance as among the sectors.

“I am happy to see the keen interest shown by the business community here.

“This is an excellent platform for us to better understand Qatari interests and to share potential investment opportunities in Malaysia.

“We note that there are only a handful of investments from Qatar in Malaysia (at the moment), ” he said during the roundtable meeting with Qatari captains of industry here yesterday.

Dr Mahathir, who arrived in the Qatar capital on Wednesday night, believed that there were ample business opportunities that could be explored by Malaysian businesses here.

He said Malaysian companies such as Gamuda, UEM, Eversendai, Holiday Villa and Malaysia Airports already had a large footprint in Qatar.

He noted that Malaysia remained on a steady economic path with a healthy average GDP growth of 4.6% in the first three quarters of 2019.

With its strong economic fundamentals, Malaysia continued to attract foreign direct investments (FDI), he added.

Dr Mahathir pointed out that Malaysia strived to strike a balance by not only enhancing the ease of doing business in the country but also ensuring that the country benefited in the long run.

“By investing in human capital, technology and infrastructure, coupled with pro-business policies, we look to provide the optimal investment landscape to facilitate investors.

“I am optimistic that Qatari investors will find Malaysia an exciting base to expand their overseas operations.

“As such, this roundtable is the ideal event for us to discuss how our businesses can work together for mutual benefit, ” he added.

The PM said confidence in Malaysia was attested by a multitude of independent institutes and organisations.

Last month, the World Bank Doing Business Report 2020 ranked Malaysia 12th in its ease of doing business.

“This jump from the 15th position last year showcases Malaysia’s continuous commitment in providing a conducive environment to facilitate our investors.

“Malaysia was also ranked the world’s best country to invest in or do business for 2019 by CEOWORLD Magazine while Bloomberg’s 2018 Emerging Market Scorecard ranked us the most attractive emerging market in Asia, ” he added. — Bernama