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Malaysia will not make hurried investment decisions in Myanmar

The Malaysian government will not make any hasty decisions on its investments in Myanmar despite the Rohingya refugee crisis as any form of unilateral action to cut diplomatic ties with Myanmar will limit its ability to help the Rohingya, according to Malaysian media reports.

However, Malaysian private investors will have to make their own decisions on whether to pursue investments in Myanmar, Malaysia Deputy Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said in Parliament on October 23.

“Generally, the (Malaysian) government will not (be in a) hurry in making decisions especially in matters related to investments. Of course, if the investor is from the private sector, then the decision is for them to make.

“However, if we take any unilateral action, it will not give us the desired result that we are aiming for. In this case, we want to ensure that we have room to assist the Rohingya refugees,” Reezal said.

Reezal was responding to a question by Pakatan Harapan president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail on whether Malaysia will stop all government-linked investment companies’ investments in Myanmar.

Approved foreign direct investments from Malaysia to Myanmar as at September 30, 2017 amounted to some $19.7 billion.

Among the Malaysians who have invested in Myanmar recently are Tan Chong Group, which assembles Nissan cars in Yangon and Kian Joo Can Factory, which last month secured $60 million in debt financing to build a $100 million facility in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone in Yangon.

Meanwhile, Oldtown Bhd, which runs the Old Town coffee shop franchise, this year executed a license agreement to operate cafe outlets in Yangon.

Source: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/malaysia-will-not-make-hurried-investment-decisions-myanmar.html