Malaysia should further deepen its economic ties with China for the benefit of its economic transformation and capacity building, a former Malaysian envoy said Friday.
In an article published on the local Star newspaper, former Malaysian ambassador to China Abdul Majid Ahmad Khan pointed out the increasing Chinese investment to Malaysia on top of the already flourishing bilateral trade in recent years.
The policy of Chinese government to encourage Chinese companies to invest abroad had benefited Malaysia, which has enthusiastically welcomed Chinese investment in several sectors, said Majid.
The total estimated value of Chinese investment committed since 2012 in the non-manufacturing sector is as high as 123 billion ringgit (29.3 billion U.S. dollars), while direct investment flows in the manufacturing sector jumped to 13.6 billion ringgit (3.2 billion U.S. dollars) in 2015 from a mere 164 million ringgit (39 million U.S. dollars) in 2009.
The former diplomat called for a "win-win" for Chinese investment in Malaysia, urging his country to attract investment in sectors such as high-tech, ICT, capital market and relevant services, which could contribute much to the upgrading of Malaysia's value chain.
"There is much that China can contribute to Malaysia's economic transformation and capacity building," he said.
On Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's official visit to China next week, Majid said regular visits to China had been the practice of all successive Malaysian prime ministers since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1974.
"These visits signify the importance Malaysia attaches to its relations with China, particularly in enriching the economic component of bilateral relations," he said.
"We are confident that the prime minister's visit to China will be another significant as well as a successful journey to further cement the existing close ties, particularly in the economic partnership for mutual benefit and prosperity of the two countries," he concluded.
