SUNGAI PETANI: Political stability is key to attracting investments to Malaysia, as it allows the government to formulate the right policies to convince investors.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz said foreign and domestic investors placed significant consideration on the policies put forward by any government before making huge and long-term investment decisions.
"When I asked the investors why they chose Malaysia and KHTP (Kulim Hi-Tech Park), one of the main reasons was that they needed political stability to ensure we have the right policies in place.
"These are hard to formulate if our politics are unstable.
"Hence, government stability is paramount, and they believe the current government can speed things up (formulating the right policies)," he told reporters after opening the Merbok Umno division delegates' annual general meeting at the Sungai Petani Municipal Council Tower here today.
Present was Merbok Umno division chief Datuk Shaiful Hazizy Zainol Abidin.
Zafrul said good cooperation between the federal and state governments, regardless of political differences, played an important role in realising investments.
"I wish to reiterate that the ministry and I believe my colleagues in the cabinet do not view states under the opposition, such as Kedah, as a hindrance.
"We have good cooperation with the state government to make sure all Kedahans will reap benefits from the country's economic growth," he said.
Zafrul paid tribute to state-owned Kulim Technology Park Sdn Bhd (KTPC) for its instrumental role in facilitating investment in KHTP.
He lauded KTPC's long-term plan to further strengthen KHTP's position as a preferred high-technology investment destination.
"We had a meeting with the KHTP management yesterday, and they have presented a good report since for the first quarter (of 2024) Kedah has attracted about RM31 billion in investments, of which RM30.1 billion went to KHTP, he said, adding that the investments were made possible by KHTP's high-performing top management team.
Zafrul said that during the meeting, he was briefed on a plan to realise the approved investments and the long-term plan to strengthen KHTP's operation.
Last month, Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor said Kedah secured the top spot in approved investments among the states for the first quarter by logging RM31.3 billion in investments.
He had reportedly said the approved investments were for 51 projects, which are expected to create 2,262 jobs.
From the total, RM30.9 billion are approved investments in the manufacturing sector and RM327.6 million are investments in the services sector.
He said RM30.6 billion, or 97.7 per cent, of the investments are foreign direct investments, while the remaining RM656.2 million, or 2.3 per cent, are domestic investments.