KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s unwavering support for Palestine will not jeopardise foreign investments into the country, assured Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (Tambun-PH).
Despite Malaysia’s calling out of the attitudes of the United States and several European nations amid Israel’s siege of Gaza, Anwar said the latest investment commitments from the US amounting to RM63.02 billion shows that they continue to favour investing in Malaysia.
“There are concerns that our stern attitude towards the US and several European nations would affect our economy.
“But, I can guarantee that (after) meeting the investors, priority is still given based on our political stability, clear trade policies and the smooth approval process by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority,” he said during Prime Minister’s Question Time at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He added that the investment commitments will not be jeopardised, as the companies are aware of Malaysia’s support for Palestine.
It was reported that RM8.33 billion worth of investments were from the trade and investment mission to the US organised before the start of the Apec summit, while the remaining investments were from the various one-on-one meetings held by Anwar in San Francisco last week.
The investments from the trade mission were from Abbott Laboratories, Mondelez International, Amsted Rail, Hematogenix, PerkinElmer, Ford Motor Company, Boeing, Amazon Web Services, Enovix and Lam Research.
The remaining investments have been secured from one-on-one meetings with technology giants such as Google, Enovix Corp, Microsoft, TikTok as well as TPG.
Meanwhile, Anwar told the lower House that Malaysia will continue to assist the International Criminal Court (ICC), despite not ratifying the Rome Statute.
“Yes, we did not sign the Rome Statute, but the Attorney-General’s Chambers has attended this year’s (ICC conference) to provide assistance – that is allowed.
“Also, we have informed Türkiye President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan that Malaysia is ready with support, including sending representatives and providing legal advisory.”
Last Saturday, Erdogan said there was “ample evidence” to hold the Israeli government accountable at the ICC and Türkiye would do everything in its power to ensure that these crimes would be punished impartially.
Also, Anwar said Malaysia will continue to condemn the actions of Israel and its president Benjamin Netanyahu.
He added that nations – including Spain, Australia and Japan – that were once neutral in their stance have begun expressing their objection to Israel’s war crimes. – November 21, 2023