Tun Dr Mahathir today said the Malaysian government would also enact new laws that would facilitate the private sector doing business in Malaysia. — Bernama pic

TOKYO, Nov 6 — The government will remove all obstacles to doing business in Malaysia, especially for foreign investors in order to attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The Prime Minister said the Malaysian government would also enact new laws that would facilitate the private sector doing business in Malaysia and would do away with oppressive laws for businesses.

“You can be assured that this government will be helping you to succeed in your business. If you come to do business in Malaysia you are our guest.

“We will look into your problems and resolve these problems so that you can do business in Malaysia feeling very comfortable because the government is your friend,” he said when addressing about 600 participants at the 36th Japan-Malaysia Economic Association (Jameca)-Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (Majeca) Joint Conference and Malaysian Business Forum here Tuesday.

Dr Mahathir said he would also uphold the rule of law so that businesses would be protected by the laws of the country.

“There will be no discrimination against either local or foreign investors. Malaysia is always known for freedom of doing business. We were not restrictive to the degree that will force foreign investors to avoid coming to Malaysia.

“FDI has a role to play in rebuilding the Malaysian economy. We will be very free, very business friendly and very accessible to businessmen whether they are domestic or foreign,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said business people would find his government was willing to help their businesses succeed.

“The reason why this government is business friendly and willing to help business people is because only business create wealth and government by itself cannot create wealth,” he said.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia now needed more investment in high technology and information technology-based industries that he believed would further enrich Malaysia.

“I hope that Jameca once again will focus on Malaysia. Malaysia is waiting to be your profit centre. I promise you that the government will look upon you as a guest who should be treated well by us as a host,” he said.

On the 2019 Budget tabled in Parliament on Friday, the Prime Minister said it would be able to reduce Malaysia’s financial woes.

“To the surprise of everyone, despite our financial constraints, we were able to produce and introduce a budget that is slightly expansionary, with a deficit of only 3.7 per cent. We can tackle the deficit. Despite having problems, we have found ways to rebuild the economy of the country and the administration of the country.

“We believe that we can improve further and we would be able to run the country in a way to be acceptable to foreign people who have interests in Malaysia,” he said. — Bernama