Malaysia urges OIC to turn their investments into Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed has urged the investors from the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries should consider Malaysia as their investment destination in Asia. In his keynote address at the opening of the Fourth OIC World Biz and second OIC-Asia Trade and Economic Forum 2013 here Wednesday, Mustapa Mohamed said, "All these are possible as the economy is supported by good fundamentals -- a productive workforce, strong financial services, transparent policies and a business-friendly government, among others." He said as the Economic Transformation Programme was now in its third year, the government expected a significant growth in a number of key sectors, including oil and gas, high-technology, healthcare, tourism, education and the halal industry. Elaborating Malaysian Minister of International Trade and Industry further said that Malaysia's trade with the OIC countries reached US$47.38 billion last year. "For the period January-July 2013, total trade between Malaysia and OIC dipped by 4.1 per cent to US$27.75 billion from the same period last year", he added. Mustapa, however, said Malaysia performed well on the foreign direct investment (FDI) front, topping inflow of US$11.26 billion last year, the highest ever recorded. "We expect this year's performance will be just as encouraging with the latest FDI forecast at US$15 billion," he said.