Explain conflicting FDI figures, Pua tells minister
By Clara Chooi, The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 — DAP MP Tony Pua today demanded that Putrajaya explain discrepancies in figures provided to Parliament on the country’s approved foreign direct investment (FDI) to date.
The Petaling Jaya Utara MP told reporters at a press conference that International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed had informed the House on June 16 that the country’s FDI had hit RM11 billion for the first three months of this year.
According to an excerpt from the Hansard, Mustapa had said: “In terms of the country’s FDI, I would like to share some information with YB that for the first three months it totalled RM11 billion in comparison with RM29 billion last year. This means that investments for this year are more encouraging than last year’s.”
But, said Pua (picture), a check on the ministry’s website revealed that while statistics on last year’s total “approved” FDI confirmed Mustapa’s RM29 billion figure, the total FDI for the first three months of this year only amounted to RM4.6 billion, a “far cry” from Mustapa’s claim.
“In fact, based on the latest updates from the website, which included the April FDI figures, the amount ‘approved’ was only RM9 billion, still lower than the figure cited by the minister for the first three months.
“Mustapa should clarify the glaring difference in numbers so that Malaysians and foreign investors will not be confused with the conflicting numbers, while policy-makers are able to measure the progress of the Malaysian climate more accurately,” he said.
Pua also said the minister should not only provide figures for the total approved FDI but also a comparative set of numbers for “actual” FDI brought into the country post-approval.
He noted that over the years many “approved” investment projects announced by the government had failed to materialise.
