By M. HAFIDZ MAHPAR | Jan 17, 2010
Jazan project set to give Malaysia a boost in investors list
 |
|
Warm greetings: Najib meeting Malaysia Business Council members in Jeddah at a dinner on Friday. — Bernama
|
JEDDAH: Malaysia, ranked as the 13th largest foreign investor in Saudi Arabia, can significantly move up the list with the Jazan Economic City development, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
The 113sq-km city, to be developed over 20 years, is being constructed in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia by a joint venture between Malaysia’s MMC Corp Bhd and the Saudi Binladen Group.
The province of Jazan is home to one of Saudi Arabia’s major ports.
Najib also touched briefly on an iconic development project in Mecca with Malaysian participation.
“The Malaysia Business Council has proposed using this project as a way to attract Malaysian investments (to Mecca).
“The Government will study the proposal thoroughly and hopefully, a decision can be made soon given the huge (business) potential in Saudi Arabia,” Najib said during a dinner hosted by the council on Friday.
Earlier, the council (a non-profit organisation comprising Malaysian professionals working in Jeddah) gave a presentation to Najib who is on his first official visit to Saudi Arabia as Prime Minister. He is leading a strong delegation comprising four ministers and three mentris besar.
There are currently 87 Malaysian companies registered in Saudi Arabia. Najib noted that for 2010, the Saudi Government had announced the largest budget in its history amounting to 540 billion riyal (RM480bil), which provided opportunities for Malaysia to enhance its bilateral trade and investment with the country.
For the first 10 months of last year, total trade between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia was US$1.7bil (RM5.6bil), in the latter’s favour.
However, the deficit was narrowed to US$263mil (RM878mil) from US$1bil (RM3.3bil) in the corresponding period in 2008, said Najib.
It was important, Najib said, that the relationship between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia extended beyond just an economic relationship.
“The image of the Muslims must continue to be championed, because there are still many negative elements with which (some parties attempt) to smear Islam and Muslims everywhere.”
Other story:
|