PROFITS MADE ABROAD MUST BE RE-INVESTED IN M'SIA, LOCAL COMPANIES TOLD

By Nor Baizura Basri

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysian companies are encouraged to invest
abroad but the profit made must be re-invested in Malaysia to ensure continuity
in the country's economic growth, says International Trade and Industry Minister
Mustapa Mohamed.

This was a natural phenomenon for local companies that have been successful in
Malaysia and are now keen to seek new and wider markets overseas, he said.

"We don't prevent Malaysian companies from investing overseas, but we hope they
will increase their invesments in Malaysia when they reap profits from their
foreign business ventures," he told Bernama when responding to a report by KPMG
LLP that Malaysian companies are among entities from emerging economies buying
corporate assets in the United States in the first half of this year.

Companies in the emerging and high-growth markets made 243 acquisitions in
developed economies in the first six months of 2010, up from 194 in the year
earlier, according to the KPMG study.

India was the top acquirer in emerging-to-developed (E2D) deals in the study,
bagging 50 acquisitions in the first half of 2010.

India was followed by Southeast Asia (47), China (39), Malaysia (30) and Central
America and the Caribbean (17) in the same period.

KPMG LLP is a global audit, tax and advisory firm providing services to US-based
companies in their pursuit for outbound investment opportunities in high-growth
and emerging markets.

Mustapa said Petronas, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd and Maybank are examples of local
companies that have invested substantially abroad and have repatriated their
profits for re-investment in Malaysia.

He said Petronas has the highest investment overseas and this strategy has
transformed the national oil corporation into Malaysia's top-notch company in
the international stage.

"Had Petronas not ventured out into business in foreign land, the company would
have remain only a small entity today and would not be able to contribute
significantly to the nation's prosperity and success," he said.

Mustapa said his ministry would pursue its mission to woo foreign
investments to Malaysia through trade and investment missions to advanced countries
this year.

The minister will lead a trade and investment mission to the United States from
Sept 17 to 26, starting from Atlanta, Philadelphia and ending in Washington.
-- BERNAMA