Malaysia - From Hyderabad to KL via Dubai

Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - The volume of foreign direct investments (FDI) is often touted as the measurement of the economic health of a country as well as the global perception of that nation in general.

So when our FDI in 2009 plunged some 81 per cent from 2008 to just 5 billion ringgit (US$1.6 billion), the naysayers had a field day, even calling Malaysia a failed nation.

But in the past two years, the investment trend reversed and FDI for the whole of 2010 stood at 29.3 billion ringgit. Recently, the government also announced that, as of September, Malaysia had received 26.4 billion ringgit in FDI.

The economic ministers then hit back, saying the increase showed that the country's economy was in good health and this reflected foreigners' confidence in the government's programmes.

In releasing the figures, the government also announced that 514 manufacturing projects with investments worth 31.7 billion ringgit were approved in the first six months of 2011. Of this amount, 15.9 billion ringgit were domestic investments and 15.8 billion ringgit foreign investments.

In 2010, a total of 910 projects with investments worth 47.2 billion ringgit were approved.

However, these investments did not take into account the large number of expatriates (read rich foreign immigrants) who have settled down in this country and set up companies here.

I know of at least two former chief executive officers of multinational firms who have resigned rather than take up a new posting in another country. They have gone on to set up their own service-based companies here.

Yes, the amount they invest is not in the tens of millions, but the knowledge that they pass on to the local workers and the improved services that their companies render to Malaysians must be appreciated.

This brings us to this gentleman whom I was introduced to recently. Let's call him Sheikh (not his real name). He is an Indian national who made his fortune in Dubai as an oil and gas equipment supplier.

When the Dubai economy tanked about two years ago, 50-something-year-old Sheikh gave up his decades old business and moved here.

"My wife and I came to Kuala Lumpur as tourists a decade ago, and again when my engineer son was here as an expatriate worker with a multinational oil and gas company," Sheikh explained, adding that his son bought a multi-million ringgit apartment in the KLCC area.

"We fell in love with KL and I promised myself that if we were ever to leave Dubai we would move to Malaysia."

Not one who can sit quietly, despite having a healthy bank account, my newfound friend decided to open a fine dinning restaurant that serves Indian (more exactly Hyderabad) cuisine.

He found a wonderful location in a fast growing township in Petaling Jaya, paid the rental for the ground floor unit up front, and started renovations.

He also submitted his application for foreign workers at the same time. That was when his love affair with this country soured somewhat; he encountered the horror called the Malaysian bureaucracy.

It took him six months to get the necessary approvals and work permits. We Malaysians would be amazed at the "speed" in which he got the approvals, but to Sheikh it cost him six months of rental as well as loss of business opportunities.

"In Dubai, the approval would have been given almost instantly," he noted.

"After I have renovated my shop, the manpower department officers would come to examine my premises and look at my menu and overall operations.

"They would determine on the spot how many and what kind of staff I would need. Being experts, the officers could determine the numbers and issue the permit there and then."

Sheikh also pointed out that he had based his business in Dubai because it was a real business centre and an excellent transshipment hub.

He moves all his imported equipment into and out of Dubai without any hassle or taxes. One must remember that there is no oil exploration in Dubai but yet it houses the regional offices of all the major oil firms in the world.

In comparison, Malaysia is not as business friendly.

Sheikh may not be a big-time investor but his investments count as well. He pays monthly rental of 6,000 ringgit for his shop, which he renovated at a cost of almost 300,000 ringgit. He and his wife stay in a condominium unit that he rents for 2,500 ringgit a month.

Sheikh had invested almost 500,000 ringgit in our country. His five Indian cooks and waiters I am sure will spend quite a bit of their money here before sending the remainder to their families in India.

If 'small-time investors' like Sheikh were also accounted for, I am sure our FDI would be a lot higher.

Investments by people like Sheikh mean more than just money. For one thing, his restaurant serves about the best Biryani rice I have ever tasted - served in little urns topped by an omelette.

It is my wife's recipe, Sheikh says.

Serving good international cuisine will only enhance the reputation of the country, both as an investment hub and as a tourist haven. Good food is one of the best ways to attract people to any area or country.

Ask where one would find the best curry in the world and you would be surprised at the answer. Many people will tell you it is in Scotland, in which many people from the South Continent have settled down.

Or, where is the best Dim Sum in the world found? No, it's not in Hong Kong or Beijing but in Sydney where some of the freshest seafood is found.

The authorities now re-looking at our foreign labour policy should take a leaf from how things are done in Dubai where immigrant workers outnumber the local population almost three to one.

It's time to align this policy with the other economic programmes that we have.

Wong Sai Wan in Kuala Lumpur/The Star | ANN

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