KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — The National Investment Council’s (MPN) recent decision to empower the Malaysian Investment Development Agency (Mida) as the country’s main investment promotion agency (IPA) will ensure a holistic government approach for more orderly, efficient, focused, structured and systematic promotional activities.
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said it would also allow Malaysia to optimise available resources and overcome overlapping IPA responsibilities, leading to more efficient services.
Moreover, it would ensure a more structured IPA governance, which is an important factor for investors when making decisions and evaluating Malaysia as a preferred investment destination, the minister said in a statement today.
Tengku Zafrul said the move to empower Mida was also aimed at increasing and retaining foreign direct investment (FDI) as well as domestic direct investment (DDI) and ensuring these investments had positive spillover effects on the economy and domestic supply chain, local small and medium enterprises, and the people in line with the goals of the National Investment Aspirations.
The MPN, in its maiden meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, recently agreed to empower Mida as the nation’s main IPA as part of the government’s effort to reorganise the PIA ecosystem, which will kick off with the streamlining of the functions and roles of IPAs as well as of regional economic corridors in relation to phased investments.
Tengku Zafrul said the strengthening of administrative functions and centralisation of reporting on the latest investment data under a single dashboard would allow for a more agile handling of investor-related issues.
