Economics

Explain disparity between ‘actual’ and ‘approved’ FDIs, DAP tells Putrajaya

By Kit

June 29, 2011

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal The Malaysian Insider Jun 29, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 — The Najib administration must explain the wide disparity between approved foreign direct investments (FDIs) and actual investment figures, the DAP said.

DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua told reporters that a written reply by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MITI) revealed that from 1996 to 2010 only RM179.8 billion out of the RM289.9 billion of approved investments had been realised.

“A shocking RM199.1 billion of declared FDI had disappeared without a trace,” he said in a statement today.

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP pointed out that the actual FDI figure in 2010 was RM9.4 billion as opposed to the approved FDI figure of RM29.1 billion.

“The government should not just present only the positive statistics while hiding all the less than rosy stuff from the prying eyes of the public for that will only lead to self-praise and complacency, ensuring longer term decline in our economic performance,” he added.