PUTRAJAYA should ensure transparency in its deals with China to gain people’s confidence that the investments will benefit them in the long run, said a leading economic and social analyst.

Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs chief executive Wan Saiful Wan Jan said at the moment, the country’s deals with China lacked transparency, which had led to a lot of criticism.

“What we need to make sure is that there is rule of law. There is transparency. There is proper governance of all the investments coming into the country.

“As long as we can ensure this, I am sure it will contribute to our economic growth,” Wan Saiful told reporters on the sidelines of a forum in Kuala Lumpur today on Malaysia’s economic ties with the US and China.

Wan Saiful noted that Chinese investments were essentially good for the country, but they drew much criticism due to the lack of information given to the public.

“I think, at the moment, there are a lot of concerns because the amount of information (made known to the public) is not much.

“If we share the information with people and tell them how (the investments are) beneficial to everyone, I am sure there would be less criticism.”

He added that Malaysia should be prepared to accept more Chinese investments as long as they abided by the rule of law and proper transparency principles.

Beijing and Kuala Lumpur have been talking up joint transport infrastructure in Malaysia, such as the RM55 billion East Coast Rail Link to be built and financed by China.

Other mega projects that involve Chinese participation are the Tun Razak Exchange, Forest City in Johor and various port projects.

The Chinese involvement and lack of transparency over investment deals have drawn criticism from the opposition coalition.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said the deals would have an adverse effect on Malaysians as the projects were funded via soft loans by Chinese banks, which must be repaid with interest.

She urged Malaysians to be concerned about the lack of transparency and accountability over the deals made with China, which amounted to RM140 billion. – September 12, 2017.