FORMER Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak took a swipe at the present administration by claiming that investors continued to flock the country when he was in power despite lots of criticism being levelled at his Government.
Despite having to endure heavy loads of criticism from the opposition on a daily basis, Najib said both the foreign investment and country’s economic climate remained buoyant to the extent that foreign investment into Malaysia was the highest in the country’s history and one of the highest in ASEAN.
“That explains why annual dividends (hibah) was consistently high during my nine-year tenure as PM,” Najib wrote in his latest Facebook posting. “There was never news of hibah of 1.25% or ASB (Amanah Saham Bumiputera) dividend rate of 4.25% during that time.”
Najib further recalled that investors continued to make a beeline into Malaysia even as his administration was “severely whacked” and accused of being a bankrupt government.
“Like the Saudi Arabia King Salman who came to Malaysia with a RM33 bil investment,” noted Najib. “We had never gone there to have a Zoom meeting with his highness and even their Hajj and Umrah Minister had never been sacked following our visit.”
Other notable investors include Chinese business magnate Jack Ma who came to Malaysia to open a data centre and first Digital Free Trade Zone in Malaysia as well as HSBC, Prudential and China Communications Construction Company who established their Asean headquarters in Malaysia.
“Why did they do so?” Najib asked cheekily. “Because the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) Government wasn’t #kerajaangagal (failed government). Because our main focus day in and day out was never to ‘buy frogs’ (referring to politicians who are party hoppers).”
In essence, Najib rationalised that investors dislike governments which are unstable, not competent, not elected by the people, who simply spent money that is not approved by the Parliament or who often breaches the public debt limit and failing to uphold democratic principles and constitution. – April 19, 2021
