KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s investment and trade missions and official visits to nine countries from January to March 2023 have attracted estimated potential investments of RM184.73 billion and potential exports of RM3.22 billion.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah Affairs, Sarawak and Special Duties) Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said the countries visited by the prime minister and the government delegation were Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Turkiye, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia and China.

"The main mission of the prime minister during the visit was to convince potential investors to invest in Malaysia while strengthening, deepening and expanding bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and the countries visited especially in the cultural and tourism sectors towards promoting closer ties among the people and sustainable socio-economic growth as well as fostering a closer understanding between the countries,” he said in a written reply posted on Parliament’s website today.

He was answering the question from Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian) who wanted to know the total cost spent by the government for the prime minister’s visits to foreign countries from January to March 2023 and the actual investment proceeds from the visits.

Armizan said the official visit and international conference is the best platform to promote Malaysia and to provide the international business community with up-to-date information on the economic position and business environment in Malaysia.

Among the programmes carried out during the official visits were closed-door meetings with potential investors, seminars and roundtable meetings.

During an official visit to Saudi Arabia from March 22 to 24, the prime minister witnessed the signing and exchange of memorandums of understanding/cooperation (MoUs) between Malaysian and Saudi companies including cooperation on the production of chips for semiconductors inclusive of the opening of factories in Negeri Sembilan and in Saudi Arabia as well as training aspects for pilgrims in 23 countries in the Asian region with an estimated investment cost of US$50 million.

Meanwhile, during his official visit to Cambodia, he witnessed two MoUs signed between the governments of Malaysia and Cambodia to bring in foreign workers in the formal and domestic sectors. — Bernama