Investors may flee to Vietnam over Anwar-Azmin squabble, says Redzuan

(NST) – There is a possibility investors will choose Vietnam over Malaysia due to the political uncertainty in the country, said Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof.

He said this “uncertainty” was caused mainly by the PKR infighting involving its president Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his deputy Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

According to the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) supreme council member, several investors have personally expressed concern to him over the issue, with one saying he might invest in Vietnam instead.

“I have investors asking ‘Hey, Redzuan, what is happening in Malaysia?’ Somebody even said, ‘If this is what’s happening in this country, we’ll move to Vietnam’.

“I am not trying to scare anyone but there are investors (who are) thinking about this. They are not shutting off Malaysia completely but they are waiting at the door.

“They are adopting the ‘wait and see’ approach. This is why you see today that although there are some investment proposals reported, they haven’t been realised. Approved but not realised,” he said in an interview with the New Straits Times recently.

Speculation has been rife that Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad preferred Azmin to succeed him despite an earlier agreement that he would pass the baton to Anwar in “two or three years”.

Dr Mahathir, however, has repeatedly said he would hold his end of the bargain, but he needed time to ensure the country is heading towards the right direction.

Recently, Umno and Pas said they would support for Dr Mahathir to continue as the premier until the end of his term. This call was also supported by Azmin.

Commenting further, Redzuan said Anwar should “slow down” and not be impatient as the premiership would eventually be passed to him.

“It’s already resolved that Dr Mahathir will hand over the seat to Anwar, so why is Anwar busy trying to unseat Dr Mahathir?

“Give Dr Mahathir a chance to fix the country so that when Anwar takes over, it will be easier for him to carry out his duties.

“In my opinion, if this infighting continues, the most eligible candidate who can take over the premiership is Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin,” he said.

Muhyiddin is currently the Home Minister. Previously, he was the Deputy Prime Minister but was booted out of the Cabinet on July 28, 2015 by former premier Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Asked on why Pakatan Harapan did not fix an exact time for Anwar to take over so that the Port Dickson Member of Parliament would feel at ease, Redzuan questioned the need to rush the decision.

“Why the rush? When we took over, we saw all the weaknesses that need to be improved and he (Anwar) saw this too.

“Is the Prime Minister supposed to just do his work halfway and pass the rest to his successor who is not even a Cabinet member at the moment?

“When Dr Mahathir is ready, he will hand over the reins to Anwar. Firstly, we need to stabilise the country by empowering the B40 and the Bumiputera.

“If the Bumiputera are not stable, the country will be unstable, too, and as a result, investors will run away from Malaysia,” he added.