Data UNCTAD FDI Malaysia Merudum-SALAH!

WZWH menyokong pandangan ekonomist Calvin Sakaran juga seorang industrialist Malaysia mengenai laporan dan data UNCTAD bahawa FDI Malaysia merudum adalah salah dan tidak betul.

Berikut pandangan ekonomist Calvin Sakaran;

The World Investment Report (WIR) 2010 issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which reported a very significant plunge in Malaysian’s FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in 2009, has been a godsend to the leaders and supporters of Pakatan Rakyat.

The report has given them a much needed opportunity and breathing space to deflect the intense public attention away from the spate of major scandals and cases of gross mismanagement that plaguing in the states under the Pakatan rule.

Predictably these supporters and leaders had swooped upon this FDI issue like a gaggle of vultures and tried pin the blame squarely on the Federal government shoulders. Reading some of these over the top, irrational and alarmist comments, one would conclude that the county is heading for the Armageddon and has no hope whatsoever for the future.

Unsurprisingly, DAP’s “Economic Advisor” and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua, has been on the forefront of this assault, launching salvoes of statements and colorful charts to buttress his charge that the investors had totally lost confidence in Malaysia.

However, even a cursory survey of Tony’s argument shows that his analyses and statements are, as usual, devoid of intellectual merit and betrays a lack an understanding of the issue.

While it is unrealistic to expect a politician to be impartial and objective in his analysis, unfortunately when one reads PJ Utara MP’s latest comments it is embarrassingly, glaringly and painfully clear that Tony knows very little about the local and global investment scenario.

First of all, had Tony followed the FDI trends, he would have taken cognizance of the fact that UNCTAD’s data on Malaysia’s FDI inflows are completely wrong. Further, had Tony done his homework, he would have surely discovered that the data provided by the UN agency simply does not make any logical sense.

I am not sure how did UNCTAD arrived at the FDI figure of US$1.38 billion (RM4.4 billion) but MIDA had months ago had published in its website that Malaysia procured FDI worth US$6.48 billion in 2009. In fact the states of Sabah and Sarawak alone had attracted more than US$1.38 billion worth of FDI each in 2009.

So it is rather puzzling and incomprehensible that an Oxford graduate in economics and self confessed expert could have overlooked such basic facts and committed such obvious and elementary error.

Based on the correct figure of US$6.48 billion, Malaysia has done extremely well compared to its regional peers. In fact, the FDI numbers seem to indicate that foreign investors’ confidence in Malaysia had sky-rocketed. This could be attributed to the various bold reforms and the steady and sure-footed economic and political stewardship of our PM, Dato Seri Najib Razak.

I had been travelling around Europe, Asia and the US in the last few months for business purposes for my company. During these trips, I had the opportunity to speak to a number of business leaders and investors informally and almost everyone I spoke with seemed to agree that Malaysia has made very significant progress economically and politically under PM Najib. This is a quantum leap and a sea change in perception compared to my previous trip in 2008 when the investors’ sentiments were pre-dominantly negative and bearish.

The second point that Tony Pua had pointed out was pertaining the outflow of FDI from Malaysia. I am unsure of the accuracy of this data by UNCTAD but I am again rather surprised that an economist such as Tony could not fathom the simple reasons behind this outflow which is apparent even to non-economist such as me.

Malaysian firms from industries such as finance and banking, telecom, infrastructure, airline, oil and gas, etc. have grown in the recent years to be regional and even global players and champions. They have expanded and established themselves beyond our borders and have been investing and acquiring companies overseas. As such there is an outflow of FDI for such purposes.

However there is one key point I do agree with Tony, that is, in his assertion that a drop in FDI shows a complete loss of confidence in the government. As such I am sure Tony too would concur with me that the massive 80 per cent drop in FDI for DAP-run and Lim Guan Eng-led Penang is a testament that the investors have no confidence in CM Lim’s leadership or his policies.