KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputra investors have the capability to participate in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) in southern Johor despite the Government’s move to exempt qualified investors from foreign investment committee (FIC) rules, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said. 

Abdul Ghani said he agreed with the move to exempt IDR from policies that favour the bumiputras in a bid to attract investors. 

“IDR is a very defined area and there is enough bumiputra strength to participate in the development despite the FIC rules being relaxed completely,” he told reporters after the launch of IDR and the second Penang Bridge projects at the Invest Malaysia Conference here yesterday.  

Johor Baru MP Datuk Shahrir Samad said the public should not be alarmed with the move because exemptions were already given for certain industries such as the Multimedia Super Corridor-status companies. 

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman briefing investors and officials on the Iskandar Development Region after the launch of the IDR and the Second Penang Bridge projects at the Invest Malaysia Conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. — IBRAHIM MOHTAR/The Star

“We have to be clear and careful. We have to understand the actual situation. People have the impression that everything requires a racial quota. It’s not exactly something new,” he said. 

“There are precedents. MSC-status companies are not required to have a racial quota. Foreign investors can have 100% ownership, 100% foreign workers and it is a free trade zone concept.” 

On the new incentives announced by Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for certain zones within IDR, Abdul Ghani said the move would make the growth area very attractive for foreign investors to work and live in.  

In his keynote address at the Invest Malaysia Conference 2007 here yesterday, the Prime Minister announced that qualifying companies in creative industries, educational services, financial advisory and consulting, healthcare, logistics and tourism related services, would be exempted from FIC rules, and have freedom to source capital globally. 

The IDR is the largest development project announced by Abdullah to push economic growth. He is seeking foreign investors to help fund the RM383bil, two-decade-long project, which will transform Johor.  

Source : The Star 23/3/2007