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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia cannot rely too much on foreign direct investment if it wants to achieve developed nation status, according to former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.
He said the country should be in control of technology and target industrial production for the global market, as other Asian countries do, including China, Japan and South Korea.
“We (Malaysia) depend on foreign investors, (they) build factories that do not belong to us (Malaysia). All proceeds are repatriated (to their countries) and we (Malaysia) do not get the technology completely, ”he said in an online forum organized by the National Council of Teachers.
He said that South Korea is now the manufacturer of the largest ships in the world after realizing that there was demand in the world market.
Professor Raduan Che Rose, head of the faculty council, said his research on technology transfer by multinational companies in Malaysia showed that the country was being used more as a production plant.
“All the research, the strategic issues remain in the respective countries. The mistake was perhaps in the early stages before, when we were desperate to create manual jobs, ”he said.
