Acknowledgement
 
Mr. Shigeki Nakazawa,
Project Formulation Advisor
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Malaysia
 
H.E. Benjamin Clement Eghan
High Commissioner of Ghana
 
Members of the media
 
Ladies and Gentlemen
 

Good Afternoon.
 
It gives me a great pleasure to welcome all delegates from various countries, namely Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Zambia, and Angola, to this experience sharing and learning programme. I hope you have enjoyed the briefings and visits these past few days and gained much through them.
 
This is the fourth year in a row that MIDA is collaborating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to organise the Third Country Training Programme – Investment Promotion for African Countries. I would like to commend the organising team for bringing together public and private organisations in this initiative.
 
We trust that the best forms of developmental assistance are those kept within the spirit of sharing and partnership. With this principle, Malaysia continues to promote non-exclusive cooperation ties and assist other nations. Such initiatives have been conducted since 1980s. This was done under the framework of the South-South Cooperation via the Malaysian Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP). After Japan started its Third Country Training Programme (TCTP) in Malaysia, we began our collaboration in 1992 to assist developing countries under the MTCP list within the TCTP arrangement. We take cognisant that by promoting greater international cooperation, Malaysia will also expand its economic interaction and thus promote greater economic growth.
 
This year we continue to bring together a dedicated line up of training sessions and activities, particularly on useful best practices and systems to attract foreign investments towards guiding your own assessments of the paths leading to more effective plans for your respective countries.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
The role of an investment promotion agency of any country is pivotal in shaping the path of its nation’s economic transformation. In Malaysia, we take pride that MIDA has been instrumental in the structural transformation of our nation’s economy over the last 49 years. As the government principal agency for the promotion of manufacturing & services sectors, we have made various policy recommendations including the charting of industrial master plans, and aggressive marketing continues to be undertaken to attract investments.
 
Malaysia, a country once dependent on agriculture and primary commodities in the sixties, has today become an export-driven economy spurred by high technology, knowledge-based and capital-intensive industries. The country is also one of the world’s top locations for offshore manufacturing and service-based operations. This is reflected by the presence of notable multinational companies such as Recron, Intel, Honeywell, Bosch, HP, Infineon, Osram, Abbott, Boston Scientific, and K-Soft Technologies.
 
The presence of these multinationals has stimulated the development of local supporting industries. With the rise of local vendors, more foreign companies are attracted to Malaysia to avail themselves to the supply chain and ecosystem that have been created over the years. Many of the existing foreign companies have also continued to show their confidence in the country's potentials as an investment location by expanding and diversifying, particularly in high technology projects.
 
Malaysia’s attractiveness as an investment destination is proven year after year by a multitude of independent institutes and organisations. For example, in the World Bank of Doing Business Report 2016, Malaysia was ranked 18th worldwide in ease of doing business, outranking countries like Switzerland, France and Japan. The annual UNCTAD World Investment Reports regularly ranks Malaysia among the most profitable and prospective economies – for example, 8th top prospective host economy among developing economies for the period 2015-2017 worldwide.
 
Our aim now is to generate higher economic returns and growth for individuals and the country, creating a sustainable impact on the economy which would lead to a more attractive business environment. To this effect, MIDA adopts an ecosystem approach whereby concerted efforts are put in place to promote the entire value chain of industry clusters and enhance delivery enablers to support the value chain.
 
With clear and predictable policies in place, Malaysia continues to have the trust and confidence of foreign investors in our business environment. In the first eight months of 2016, Malaysia recorded a total of RM35.86 billion of approved investments in the manufacturing sector. Of these, 49.9% were from foreign sources. The investments were concentrated in electronics & electrical products, petroleum products, chemical & chemical products, food manufacturing and scientific & measuring equipment. These approved foreign investments for January – August 2016 have already reached 81.6% of the total foreign investments approved for the whole of last year. This includes 1 new project from Nigeria to manufacture transport equipment.
 
As at August 2016, we have approved 46 manufacturing projects with participation from African countries with a total investment of RM1.3 billion. They were mostly in basic metal products, petroleum products including petrochemicals, chemical & chemical products, food manufacturing and paper, printing & publishing. We would like to encourage more investments from African countries in Malaysia. 
 
Nonetheless, Malaysia is among the major investors in the African continent. According to a report by an international magazine namely The Diplomat, Malaysian investments across Africa are highly diversified.  Beyond crude oil, other key investment areas by Malaysians include the palm oil industry, and halal goods and services.
 
In terms of trade, our bilateral trade volume reached RM30.1 billion last year. In January to July, it has reached RM14.8 billion. In 2015, Malaysia recorded total exports of RM20.6 billion to the Africa continent. Exports were mainly manufactured goods such as palm oil & palm based products, petroleum products, chemical and chemical products, processed food, and machinery, appliances and parts.
 
With a population size of more than 1 billion people, we view African countries with optimism and as places of opportunities for potential collaboration in areas of mutual interest and benefit. We understand that there are massive infrastructure projects happening and African businesses are becoming more tech-savvy such as M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer innovation.
 
As you are learning from us, we would also like to understand the economic reforms and the current opportunities the continent offers. Despite Malaysia’s business presence in Africa, many other Malaysian investors are still relatively unaware of the investment opportunities in Africa due to the challenge of obtaining such information.  As such, I look forward to the exchanges during the Seminar on Trade & Investment Opportunities in African Countries that will be held on 19 October, next Wednesday at the Aloft Hotel.
 
We are expecting more than 50 participants at the seminar. Many of them will be from public listed companies as well as business associations in Malaysia. Not only will the seminar serve as hands-on training for the participants to make an investment promotion pitch, it will also be a valuable opportunity for the Malaysian business community to better understand Africa’s growth story.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen,
 
I hope this trip will be a rewarding experience for you as much as it is for us, to meet new friends, and have an effective networking with all. In addition to discovering Malaysia’s uniqueness for yourselves, we trust that you will be able to reap the maximum benefits of the meetings and visits organised throughout this programme.
 
We believe your presence today will further strengthen trade and investment between Malaysia and the various African economies represented here. It is my hope that from the engagements throughout this programme we will be able to create win-win situations whereby your nations will benefit from adopting the best practices and systems Malaysia has, and our companies are able to seize the growing opportunities Africa has to offer.
 
This programme should also be a beginning to continuous engagements between MIDA and your respective investment promotion agencies. As information about investments in African countries is absolutely crucial to encourage investors, we look forward to working with you in obtaining all the necessary information required by Malaysian investors desiring to invest in African countries. 
 
On that note, it is my pleasure to officially launch the Third Country Training Programme: Investment Promotion for African Countries 2016.
 
Thank you.

SOURCE : Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: 
Name: Mr Ahmad Tajudin Omar
Director, Domestic Investment Division, MIDA
Tel: 03-2263 3627
Fax: 03-2273 4207
Email: tajudin@mida.gov.my

--BERNAMA