KUALA LUMPUR: Two brothers appeared to contradict each other at the Invest Malaysia 2015 forum held here yesterday.
While Prime Minister Najib Razak sought to draw attention to the positive performance of Malaysia’s economy during his tenure, his own brother, CIMB Bank Berhad CEO Nazir Razak called for the “elephant in the room to be put behind us”.
Nazir was alluding to the absence of 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) at the annual meeting which saw the presence of key members of the administration, government-linked companies and major funds. According to Nazir, 1MDB was invited to speak but had declined the offer.
Lamenting their absence Nazir said, “This is the biggest investor programme. All major government investment companies are here and so are the key people in the capital markets.” “We felt that this was a good platform for them to answer questions. When issues are not cleared up, people tend to expect the worse,” he added, as reported by The Star.
Ironically, Najib had himself acknowledged the presence of the big-wigs of industry during his address. “When so many respected international bodies, individuals and institutions have confirmed their belief in Malaysia’s success and have honoured us by rating us so highly, I don’t feel lonely at all,” he was reported by Channel News Asia (CNA) to have said.
He went on to highlight the 47.7 per cent growth in the country’s gross national income since he took office in 2009. He also claimed that foreign direct investment was at an all-time high and that if targets were met, Malaysia would have had its fiscal deficit reduced for a sixth consecutive year despite a cut in fuel subsidies and the introduction of the unpopular Goods and Services Tax (GST). owever, CNA suggested the recent sharp decline in the value of the Ringgit and 1MDB’s massive debts weighed heavily on investors’ sentiment.