SUDAN SAFE HAVEN TO DO BUSINESS, SUDANESE ENVOY ASSURES M'SIAN INVESTORS

By R. RAVICHANDRAN

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Bernama) -- Sudan has assured Malaysian investors,
potential investors and the business fraternity that the largest country in
Africa is a "good and safe choice" to do business.

Sudanese Ambassador to Malaysia Nadir Yousif Eltayeb said the International
Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant on Sudanese president Omar Hassan
Al-Bashir for alleged war crimes in Darfur would not bring any adverse effects
to the country's political stability, economic well-being and business climate.

He said businesses and daily life in the country with 40 million people were
going on as usual and foreign investors and investments were still coming in.

"The international business community has nothing to worry. There is no
chaos. The people are strongly behind the president and the government.

"Being a country rich in many resources, the people are more
determined to develop the country to greater heights," he told Bernama in an
interview here Thursday.

Sudan is not a member of the ICC and did not recognise the jurisdiction of
the ICC. The president had said the ICC's decision is "not worth the ink it is
printed on" and that the Western world was targeting Sudan to stop its
development projects.

"Khartoum will respond to all these decisions with new development
projects," he said.

After the March 4 ICC decision, Omar Hassan travelled to Eritrea on March 23
and to Egypt yesterday to send a strong message to some Western countries that
"it is business as usual for Sudan" and that it will not bow to pressure from
the ICC.

Nadir said three major business delegations from Malaysia are to visit the
vast African nation in two weeks, an indication of the strong confidence in
Sudan by the Malaysian business community.

"In fact, we are receiving enquiries almost everyday from Malaysian
businessmen on business prospects in Sudan.

"People who have already invested there know very well the potential of this
country," he said, describing Khartoum-Kuala Lumpur bilateral ties as very
strong.

"So, I would like to invite the business community in Malaysia to go there
and see for themselves. I would like to assure Malaysian investors that Sudan is
a safe and a conducive place to do business and to get good returns," he said.

Nadir said more than 40 Malaysian companies were operating in Sudan and
more than 500 Malaysians were there.

Malaysia is Sudan's second most important economic partner after China and
one of its major investors. Petronas, the national oil corporation, is the
largest Malaysian company and a key player in Sudan's oil and gas industry.

Sudan's main exports are oil, cotton, sesame, livestock and Gum Arabic.
There has been substantial inflow of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) into
Sudan. In 2001, it was only US$574 million but in the last five years total FDI
was in the tune of US$19 billion.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 1995 and 2003 averaged seven per
cent. The GDP growth registered more than 10 percent in 2006 and 2007.

Besides Malaysia, China, India and South Korea, major investors in Sudan
after Khartoum introduced "Look East" policy in early 1990s, he said many Gulf
countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have started
to come in actively.

He said the US$2 billion Merowe Dam, opened by the president on
March 3, would help bring immense development to the country, with the
electricity generation. The hydropower project is Africa's largest.

The government planned to build three more dams in the next 10 years in the
country's north, south and east and welcomed Malaysia's technology and
investment, he added.
-- BERNAMA