Two unrelated events In Kuantan this week tell us everything we need to know about our investment-friendly Federal Government and the nay-saying Opposition in Malaysia.
Tuesday marks the ground-breaking ceremony at the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), a project that has been championed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak as a sister park to the RM1.5 billion China-Malaysia Qin-Zhou Industrial Park (QIP) which was launched in China last year.
Both projects are significant because they are being developed with assurances of participation by fast-expanding Chinese firms and crucial national-level status. The Chinese park means an opportunity for Malaysian exporters, while the Kuantan Park means welcome investment in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the nearby Lynas facility in Kuantan has been the subject of threats to “burn down the plant”. That threat was made by Himpunan Hijau chairman Wong Tack, who refuses to abide by the referees decision on the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant even though the legal battles – and safety inquiries – were long ago exhausted.
So on the one hand we have militant opponents who will jeopardise investments worth billions out of sheer bloody-mindedness while on the other, we have a Government that is making the case of Malaysia as a good place to invest. As a result, it is reaping the rewards in terms of quality investments.
It has this week been revealed that Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group (GBGIPG), the group involved in the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, is also set to partner in the expansion of Kuantan port.
“GBGIPG has promised to bring in more ships to Kuantan Port, they will fully utilise the port and the facilities in Kuantan Industrial Park,” said the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy to China Tan Sri Ong Ka Ting.
And the quality investments don’t stop there. Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has confirmed it will invest RM30 billion in Malaysia, including the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex in Johor.
The Qatar investment will form the backbone of an expected RM170 billion total investment in Pengerang by the time it begins operations in 2016, making Malaysia the regional leader in oil and gas and the key supplier to Singapore.
These are quality investments that only come about when global businesses like what they see in a particular nation – stability and pro-business policies. It begs the question: what would happen if Najib’s Government was not in office?
After all, the Pengerang Integrated Petroleum Complex includes the RM60 billion Petronas Refinery and Petrochemicals (RAPID) project. At various times, Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has supported the project, then opposed it (having been contradicted by PAS), and then supported it again. But he said his final support is subject to the outcome of a totally unnecessary inquiry if his Government takes Putrajaya after GE13. No wonder the investment community hopes that event will never occur.
And his last stated position on Lynas is what he said in February 2012, which is that his Government will close the plant – regardless of the cost. Nothing said by him since then has modified that position so it might be a good time for him to put a price on planned compensation offer to the Aussie miner.
That is where we stand as we head to GE13. Pakatan Rakyat is too disunited, contradictory, and opposed to business to reassure investors that it can provide the sort of stable government that investors demand. Already there have been dire warnings of a dip in direct investment should Pakatan Rakyat win GE13.
And we have a Prime Minister who, fresh from wowing the great and good of world finance at Davos, is successfully attracting investors to Malaysia like the Chinese and the Qataris in the face of global uncertainty.
Ahead of GE13, voters aren’t just being asked who they will vote for but what issues most concern them. For most right-minded Malaysians, that number one issue is the economy, which is what Barisan Nasional wants to hear.
But it seems the international investment community has already cast its vote, and it will now be hoping its faith in the future stability and sound leadership of Malaysia is backed up by the Malaysian people at GE13.