ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor State Government will hold a trade and investment mission to the United States this month, the state legislative assembly was told today.
The state’s International Trade, Investment and Utilities Committee chairman Jimmy Puah Wee Tse (pix) said the trade mission was aimed at attracting more investors from the country.
“The collaboration with various parties to woo investors from the United States, interested in moving their businesses from China to Asian countries especially Malaysia and in particular, the state of Johor are progressing positively,” he said during the Johor State Assembly sitting here today.
He said this in reply to a question by Andrew Chen Kah Eng (PH-Stulang) on the effects posed by US-China trade war on Johor’s investment sentiment.
At the same time, Puah also said, the state government was convinced that the three trade missions to China it conducted in March, April and May this year to attract investment by manufacturing companies affected by the US-China trade war, will start producing results later this year.
To date, almost 10 companies are involved in the discussion with various inquiries about investment in the state, he said.
“As of March last year, the value of Chinese investments in Johor was RM718 million, with Johor came out tops as the state receiving most investment from China.
“This shows a positive impact and such an investment trend will have a huge impact on foreign investment climate especially from China,” he said.
According to Puah, although many countries were affected by the trade spat between the US and China, Malaysia nevertheless, is lucky to gain some benefits from it.
But the country he said, needs to be more proactive in order to seize more opportunities from the ongoing crisis between the world’s two largest economies.
“For example, many companies from China who are affected by the US-China trade war, are conducting market research with an aim of transferring their businesses, industries and factories to other parts of the Asian region, especially Malaysia,” he said. — Bernama
