Johor exco: China investors not after citizenship

PETALING JAYA (October 5): China investors main intention was to purchase holiday homes, not to relocate, said state International Trade, Investment and Utilities Committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse. 

The Malaysian Insight reports that Puah, on a visit to China recently, spoke to investors over their fears that stem from the negative coverage in Malaysia. 

“I went to China to calm the investors,” he told the news portal. 

“They don’t understand why they are being singled out… (They asked) why us? What’s wrong with China? If you are against people buying property, Singaporeans have been buying (in Malaysia) for more than 50 years.

“We explained this is what is going on… We explained the policy, especially the part that says even if you come (to Malaysia), there’s no guarantee you will become citizens. 

“Everybody started laughing. They said, ‘we don’t want to become your citizens. We don’t want to stay’.”  

Puah was quoted as saying that the state’s potential continues to appeal to many investors from China, even though the misunderstanding over their intentions has dented their confidence.  

“(To them,) the advantages of Johor still outweigh all the other things. Our closeness to Singapore, our very complete infrastructure, our historical ties with China.”

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said recently, in an interview on BBC’s Hardtalk, that he has no objections to China’s One Belt, One Road initiative, but he is against projects that allow foreigners to reside in Malaysia en masse.

While he said the Chinese are welcome to invest in Malaysia, he noted that “real” foreign direct investment should involve bringing technology and factories in ways that benefited locals.

When asked if he does not want the people of China settling in Malaysia, Dr Mahathir said: “No country wants citizens of another country to come and settle en masse.”

China-linked investments are under renewed scrutiny by Dr Mahathir’s government.

The China-backed East Coast Rail Link project and two gas pipeline projects in Sabah have been halted.

The news portal cited statistics from the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) that show Johor maintaining its spot as the No. 1 foreign investment destination in the country for the manufacturing sector as of the first quarter of this year. Johor has retained this position for the past five years. 

The figures show that investment from China brought in close to RM1 billion for Johor last year, making it the second-highest investor for manufacturing in the state, after Australia. 

Overall FDI flow into Malaysia last year came mainly from Hong Kong (RM7.5 billion), followed by China (RM6.9 billion) and Singapore (RM6.1 billion).