Economist: Further liberalisation can draw FDIs

FURTHER liberalisation moves will help bring back foreign investments into Malaysia, an economist at the Forbes Global CEO conference said yesterday.

He said the country's move to liberalise about 27 sub-sectors of the services sector and relax some foreign investment rules, including that of Bumiputra ownership in companies, was a step in the right direction.

"It definitely helps when you start competing on a level playing field with everybody else. In particular, it will put Malaysia back on the map for foreign direct investments," said Jim Walker, the founder and managing director of Asianomics Ltd, an economic research and consultancy company.

Malaysia could also leverage on its competitive advantages such as its quality labour resources.

"Malaysia has very good quality labour resources which is something that is undersold for very many years now," he told reporters after participating as a panellist at a session themed "Game Change: Taking Stock Of A New Landscape".

Walker felt, however, that it may be more difficult to bring back investor interest in the equity market.

He noted that in the past, foreign investors were well invested and interested in Malaysia.

"But now, in my business, which is basically talking to fund managers, I can't remember answering a question on Malaysia in the last two years, which means the country is still far away from the market in terms of investments," he said.