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KUALA LUMPUR : Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Thursday called on China to increase investments in Malaysia after receiving less than US$30 million in direct investment from China over three years.
In contrast, Malaysian companies have invested US$320 million in China over the same period, Abdullah said.
"Given our strong and long-established diplomatic ties, I believe it is only natural for Malaysia and China to enhance co-operation in trade, business and investment," Abdullah was quoted saying by state news agency Bernama.
China, as the world's fourth largest economy, is in a solid position to increase its overseas investments on a large scale, he added.
The prime minister said China's total global trade stood at US$1.7 trillion last year but only two percent of that was in direct trade with Malaysia.
"Unfortunately, this proportion has not improved much over the last three years despite trade between our two countries having increased in absolute terms," Abdullah said at a Malaysia-China business forum held in Johor state.
He said Chinese firms are well positioned to take advantage of trade and investment opportunities available in the South East Asian region, especially with efforts underway to fully implement the ASEAN-China free trade area. - AFP/de
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