Nazir: FDI drop needs careful study

KUALA LUMPUR: The 2009 plunge in Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) needs to be studied carefully before jumping to conclusions, says CIMB Group Holdings Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Seri Nazir Razak.

“It doesn’t mean that lower net investment flow is necessarily bad.

“We need to look at the quality of the investments and look at the facts in terms of the timing of investments,” he told reporters yesterday after the group’s EGM.

Nazir was asked to comment on a recent United Nations’ The World Foreign Investment Report 2010 that said FDI in Malaysia plunged 81% in 2009, trailing behind countries like Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.

Citing CIMB and Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) big investments into Indonesia as possible factors that contributed to lower FDI figures so far this year, Nazir said: “Is this bad or not?

“It is a good thing because, in the long term, it is beneficial for Malaysia that Maybank invests and earns returns from Indonesia,” he said.

He added Malaysians should not jump and get over-excited about this investment data.