Published: Sunday, 31 August, 2008, 01:43 AM Doha Time
By Arvind Nair
Gulf Times
MALAYSIAN Ambassador Dato Shahrul Ikram invited Qatari companies to take the huge opportunities available in his country to invest and told Malaysian businessmen to make use of the prospects in Qatar.
Talking to Gulf Times on the eve of his country’s 51st anniversary of Independence, the ambassador said Malaysia welcomed participation and investment from Qatar, and provided a number of incentives.
For instance, the country has set up five economic corridors to make investment attractive to foreigners.
They are Iskandar Malaysia, Northern Corridor Economic Region, Eastern Corridor Economic Region, Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy and Sabah Development Corridor.
Iskandar, the first of the five economic development projects, was launched in November 2006. “Located on one of the world’s most important trade routes – between India and China – and mid-way between Asia’s most important growth centres of Bangalore, Dubai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo, Iskandar is an ideal place for entrepreneurs looking to invest in the vast Asian market or for companies wishing to expand their operations in this region,” the ambassador said.
Iskandar had tried to anticipate many of the issues and problems inherent in large scale development projects by creating the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), a one-stop, fast-track mechanism to help streamline the paperwork and expedite the administrative process, he said.
“With land, labour, location and very enticing incentives package in place, the cost of doing business in Iskandar is extremely competitive”.
The country benefits from an abundance of land, a well-educated workforce and highly favourable fiscal and non-fiscal incentives for entrepreneurs looking to invest in its main service sectors - the creative industries, health and education, tourism, logistics and financial and consulting services.
All the other four economic corridors are similarly attractive and offer huge advantages to entrepreneurs, he added.
Bilateral trade between Qatar and Malaysia, Ikram said, was relatively small. But, it was growing. The total bilateral trade between Malaysia and Qatar for 2007 was QR1.18bn, a “huge jump” from the figure of QR613mn in 2005.
More Malaysian companies are now doing business in Qatar than before, the ambassador said. They are mostly in the energy field or infrastructure sector. The total value of projects in Qatar awarded thus far to Malaysian companies is close to QR11bn.
In 2007 alone, the total value of projects awarded to Malaysian companies was about QR4.8bn.
The two countries last month signed an agreement on avoidance of double taxation and this could further boost business relations, he said.
Presently, individual Qataris do not have any investment in Malaysia though Qatar has two projects – Asian Islamic Finance, of which Qatar Investment Authority has 60% equity; and a shopping complex. “I want individuals to invest.”
Ikram said Malaysia was looking into the possibility of joining hands with Qatar to do joint agricultural farming in any African country where huge tracks of land were available. “We can offer the expertise” and Qatar can provide the required finance.
There was a remarkable growth in tourism sector as well, the ambassador said.
For instance, in 2007, some 14,000 Qataris visited Malaysia compared to just 7,200 in 2006. “This is a huge increase compared to the number of ‘real Qataris’ in Qatar.”
“We welcome Qatari tourists in Malaysia. They come with the whole family and stay for long. Some Qataris have bought houses in Malaysia too.”
Qataris felt at home there because of the cultural similarities, he said.
Although no official figure is available, “we estimated some 4,000 expatriates from Qatar visited Malaysia in 2007.”
Since Malaysia set up its embassy in Doha in 2004, he said, bilateral relations had improved “sharply” in various fields. “But there is always room for improvement,” said the ambassador, who had earlier worked in the US and Austria.
Currently, there are 1,500 Malaysians registered with the embassy, he said. This was 200 more than in 2007. Most of them are employed in the oil and gas sector but also included some 18 pilots, 30 aircraft engineers and 150 cabin crew.
The ambassador urged his community members in Qatar to “continue to uphold the good name of the country.”
Each one of them is an ambassador for Malaysia, he reminded them.
The embassy and the community would be celebrating the Independence Day at a function at the embassy this evening.