KUALA LUMPUR: Despite controversy surrounding a deal between Malaysia’s airport operator and US investment giant BlackRock, Malaysia remains open to business, including with its largest investor, the United States, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim stated.
Speaking to business leaders from the American Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), the Prime Minister emphasized the importance of the partnership between Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
“We made it clear that Malaysia must remain an open trading nation. The collaboration between MAHB and GIP is critical to us. As a government, we will support this collaboration,” Anwar said at the 47th Amcham annual general meeting yesterday.
GIP, along with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, plans to acquire a 30% stake in MAHB’s privatization. The remaining 70% will be owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund.
The deal faced criticism from Opposition politicians after it was revealed that GIP is in talks to be sold to BlackRock, a firm with reported investments in Israel. Anwar acknowledged the sensitivity of the BlackRock connection among Malaysians, given the country’s strong support for Palestine.
“Most are not aware of how sensitive this issue is. Locally, people cast aspersions and made allegations about our decision. In Parliament, I provided facts showing how Malaysia has benefited immensely from overseas investments,” he said.
Anwar reiterated that the United States is Malaysia’s largest investor, welcoming growing investments from Germany, the Netherlands, and China. He also clarified in Parliament that the management of GIP will remain independent of BlackRock.
GIP confirmed in a June 21 statement that BlackRock will not be involved in MAHB’s privatization.
On a lighter note, Anwar humorously suggested that a minor Cabinet reshuffle might be necessary if Malaysia’s standing does not improve in the World Competitiveness Ranking (WCR) next year. Malaysia recently slipped seven places to 34th out of 67 countries, partly due to delays in restructuring fuel subsidies.
During the dialogue session, Anwar urged Amcham members to focus on technology transfer and training in addition to investing in Malaysia. He also discussed plans for Malaysia’s upcoming chairmanship of ASEAN, including the introduction of a regional digital policy, currently under review by a team led by Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.
