Gerakan has called on the government to quicken liberalization of all sectors to attract more investments in view of a drop in investments for the country in 2009.  

Gerakan vice-president Datuk Mah Siew Keong said the party was concerned with the latest findings and hoped more concrete measures would be taken to address the problem.  

“All agencies from ministries to local councils must have KPI to ensure there are no delays, red tapes or unfavourable conditions for approval of both local and foreign investments,” he said in a statement. 

Mah urged the government to act fast, including introducing drastic and radical changes to some of its policies in line with changing times and needs, lest “we lose out investments to neighbouring countries.” 

“The success of continuous economic liberalisation, government transformation plan, NKRA & KP1 initiatives & 1Malaysia policy hold the keys for better and improved economic outlook for Malaysia in the years to come,” Mah said.  

In the past one month, Gerakan had organized a consultation session on the Goods and Sales Tax (GST) and a forum on impact of subsidies on economy. 

The party will forward the input to the government. 

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday that Malaysia’s approved factory investment declined in 2009 as companies delayed projects amid a global economic slump. 

Approved investments dropped by about half to RM32.6bil last year.