London mayor proposes easier entry for British service firms

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian government should consider allowing British service companies to be established here without having a local partner, London mayor Boris Johnson said.
He said this would further enhance local talents and employment besides increasing investments.
"I respectfully suggest that more could be done for service companies to establish themselves directly here in Malaysia without a local partner," Johnson said when delivering his lecture at the Khazanah Global Lecture 2014 here last night.
He said services from various groups including lawyers, architects, accountants consultants and banks from Britain would benefit the local industry.
"You have American law firms, German banks and French consultants and the result is not that they squeeze out local talents but they stimulate local talents and they employ tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of local people.
"The presence of international service companies creates a firm and competitive industry in a modern city," he said.
Reiterating his suggestion, Johnson said this effort would also increase investments and the flow of ideas.
"You might want to consider it and if you work at it, there is absolutely no limit to the flow of ideas and investments," he said gesturing at Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who was present at the lecture.
Also present were Perak Sultan Sultan Nazrin Muizuddin Shah, his wife Tuanku Zara Salim and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
Entertaining the crowd with his witty remarks on urban development in London and skyscrapers in Malaysia, Johnson stressed on providing quality living through environmentally friendly approaches.
Johnson also took the opportunity to commend Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes for restarting the KL-London route end of next year.
Describing it as an "excellent" move, he said he is a "great fan of AirAsia".