Investors wary over political instability, says US-Asean Business Council
PETALING JAYA: American investors will “continue to be wary” about investing in Malaysia unless they see stability in the local political arena, says the US-Asean Business Council. Speaking at a webinar today, the council’s senior vice-president of policy, Mark Mealy, said Malaysia had world-class economic institutions like Bank Negara Malaysia…
PETALING JAYA: American investors will “continue to be wary” about investing in Malaysia unless they see stability in the local political arena, says the US-Asean Business Council.
Speaking at a webinar today, the council’s senior vice-president of policy, Mark Mealy, said Malaysia had world-class economic institutions like Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) but the quality of these institutions had declined over time, making it harder for the US to properly engage with the country.
“There has been a decline in Malaysia’s political leadership and this has impacted investments,” he said.
“Unless investors see stability in the local political arena, they will continue to be wary.
“Malaysia also has world-class economic institutions like BNM, but the quality of these institutions has declined over time.”
He hailed US-Malaysia economic ties as being “relatively strong”, adding that the US wanted to build on this.
“However, market access and economic ties boiled down to the “strength of domestic politics,” Mealy said.
He was speaking at a webinar organised by the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore titled “Malaysia-US relations: Challenges and opportunities”.
Malaysia has seen two changes in government since the last general election (GE14) in 2018. The victorious Pakatan Harapan government collapsed after just 22 months and was taken over by the joint Perikatan Nasional-Barisan Nasional administration.
Apart from the changes in Putrajaya, Mealy noted that the country’s poor handling of market shocks caused by the Covid-19 pandemic had also made investors cautious.
Some of the other challenges that Mealy highlighted were the numerous reports and allegations of human trafficking and forced labour in the country.
“If the relevant bodies and entities do not address these issues adequately and soon, it can leave Malaysia’s economic standing in a vulnerable position,” he noted.
Last year, American-Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) chief executive officer Siobhan Das said the country needed to be more decisive in its policies and increase political stability to attract investments that could spur economic growth and recovery. — Free Malaysia Today