Davos, Switzerland 21 January 2016 - The Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Dato' Sri Mustapa Mohamed hosted a business luncheon jointly organised by MITI, MIDA and the Swiss-Asian Chamber of Commerce. It was attended by 56 foreign business executives and 20 leading Malaysia’s corporate figures. The international corporate leaders and investors were from a wide range of industries including oil & gas, chemicals & petrochemicals, machinery & equipment, healthcare services, financial services, engineering services and construction services. Notable Malaysian business leaders include Datuk Wan Zulkiflee, CEO and President of Petronas, Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar, Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional, Dato' Izzaddin Idris, CEO of UEM Group, Dato' Rohana Rozhan, CEO of Astro and Dato' Vijay Eswaran of QI Group. This was truly a joint effort to showcase what Malaysia can offer to international businesses and investors. 

Dato' Sri Mustapa shared the latest updates on the Malaysian economy and highlighted measures undertaken to strengthen the fiscal and monetary position in mitigating the current economic situation. In addition, he stressed that Malaysia is always open and conducive for business. Approved investments to Malaysia continued to be strong with USD34.4 billion in the first 9 months of 2015. This can be attributed to investors’ confidence in Malaysia given the politically stable climate since independence as well as continuity and certainty of policies. The successful execution of the government and economic transformation plans has contributed to Malaysia’s macroeconomic stability, improved governance and integrity. Malaysia does have world class infrastructure. Our economic diversity and broad-based exports give the country a certain level of resilience in facing the current challenges from low oil prices and slower global economic growth. Manufacturing industry continues to play an important role in driving the economy.   

Dato’ Sri Mustapa also emphasized that Malaysia is committed towards ASEAN’s economic integration and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). These economic partnerships will make Malaysia more attractive to foreign investments. Many investors and corporate leaders at Davos were optimistic on the potential benefits of TPP and ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) given the improvement in market access and reductions in trade barriers for their businesses and investments in Malaysia.
In the true Davos culture of debate and knowledge sharing, both Malaysian and international leaders shared their experience in doing business in Malaysia. Guest speaker Felix Sutter, partner at PwC Switzerland commented on the difference between the perception and reality in Malaysia. In his view, Malaysia had truly world-class infrastructure rivaling many European countries. Malaysia’s diverse culture enables companies to better link to different markets around the world and makes Malaysia a strategic location for multinational companies. Our skilled workforce is also an added advantage.

A leading healthcare CEO in Asia spoke about how the other developing markets can emulate best practices and state of the art medical facilities from leading Malaysian healthcare providers. A number of leading oil and gas executives were upbeat on the potential of Pengerang as a major global petrochemical hub in the next 5 years and some are looking forward to increase their investments in this sector. The participants were also bullish on investments in the retail space given Malaysia’s relatively young demographics. They acknowledged the excellent support and facilitation from the relevant Government ministries and agencies such as MIDA.

There is no substitute for being on the ground when investing and expanding their business overseas. Hence, at the end of the event, YB Dato’ Sri Mustapa invited all the luncheon guests to visit Malaysia as well as participate in the World Economic Forum East Asia 2016 scheduled to be held on 1 to 2 June 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.

 Ministry of International Trade and Industry
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

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About MITI:
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry was established in April 1956 then was renamed as The Ministry of Trade and Industry in February 1972. On 27 October 1990, the Ministry was separated into two Ministries which are; Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDN).
MITI is the key driver in making Malaysia the preferred destination for quality investments and enhancing the nation's rising status as a globally competitive trading nation. Its objectives and roles are oriented towards ensuring Malaysia’s rapid economic development and help achieve the country's stated goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.

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