SINGAPORE, Nov 15 — Malaysia and Singapore will revive the dormant Malaysia-Singapore Joint Business Council to step up two-way trade links between the two neighbours.
The council will be re-activated soon, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed after meeting representatives of the Singapore Business Federation (SBF). The council, set up about five years ago, has been inactive over the past few years.
At the meeting with Mustapa, who is here for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit, the SBF delegation was headed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance Lim Hwee Hwa and SBF Chairman Tony Chew.
Singapore is the fourth biggest investor in Malaysia after the United States, Japan and Germany. As of July this year, Singaporean investors have invested US$408 million (RM1.4 billion) in Malaysia.
During the same period, they had invested RM19 billion in various projects, including in production of electronic goods and components manufacturing, in Malaysia.
Stressing that he was working hard to woo Singaporean entrepreneurs to invest in Malaysia, Mustapa said that just like Singaporean investors formed the top foreign visitors to Malaysia.
“I want investors from the neighbouring country to become major investors in Malaysia,” he said.
The minister said Singaporean investors were keen to make fresh investments in the health sector and development of industrial parks and logistics. To attract more Singaporean investors, Mustapa said the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) will organise two Singapore-to-Malaysia trade missions next month.
Mida will also try to woo Singaporean investors to Sabah and Sarawak in the upcoming promotion drive, he said.
Touching on the progress of Iskandar Malaysia in Johor, Mustapa urged Singaporean investors to increase their participation in the southern corridor development particularly in iconic projects. — Bernama
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