WHILE inflation is unavoidable, it can be addressed by enriching the country through more investments, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said.

To do this, however, Malaysia must be corruption-free to be attractive to investors, he said today at the “Kemiskinan Rakyat Malaysia Pasca Pandemik Forum”.

“Investors will not be interested to invest if corruption is high in a country,” said the 96-year-old Langkawi MP.

“The second thing to do is to treat potential investors well. We, as the host, must be present when an investor wants to meet.

“Sometimes when investors come, they cannot even meet with government officials, what more the ministers and the prime minister.”

However, Dr Mahathir said it does not appear the Malaysian government “cared much” about eradicating corruption. 

The country must also have good infrastructure and a functioning administration, the two-time prime minister also said.

He said this is especially important as Malaysia faces stiff competition from other Asean countries. 

“I have just been to Indonesia and I find that many investors are interested in investing in Indonesia because its population is more than 200 million compared to the (32 million) population of Malaysia, so the market is bigger even though the market is not as rich as ours.

“Indonesia also has cheaper production costs than us, hence why eliminating corruption (is crucial for Malaysia) to be more attractive to investors,” he said. 

All countries grapple with inflation, Dr Mahathir added, but attracting investors can help one overcome economic problems by “creating many job opportunities” and supplying the needs of investors.

“Investments are one of the ways to enrich the country, without investment the country will be poor, and if investors are not treated well and (if) there are no good policies, I believe that people like Elon Musk will choose Indonesia.”

He was referring to the Tesla founder who met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Tesla headquarters in Texas after the recent US-Asean Summit.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob had spoken about inviting Musk to Malaysia but did not score an invitation to meet with the billionaire during the trip to attend the same event. – June 18, 2022.