Several prominent companies from China have agreed to make Malaysia their regional hub, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Speaking at the Majlis Perhimpunan Bulanan Perdana Menteri Bersama Warga Jabatan Perdana Menteri (JPM), Anwar said details on the matter would be announced in the near future.
“Usually their regional hubs are in other countries (neighbouring countries), but this is the first time some companies have chosen to make (Malaysia) their regional hub,” he said, having returned to Malaysia yesterday after an official visit to China.
Anwar said he has proposed to the Chinese companies to prioritise hiring qualified local workers for their operations in the country. According to him, Chinese companies operating in this country sometimes bring their entire workforce from their country (China).
However, Anwar said the government was ready to approve the application to hire workers from China immediately, but the companies involved had to prove that efforts to hire the required local workers had not been successful.
In addition, a training course programme has been proposed in companies such as Proton Holdings Bhd. This is with the aim of giving priority to the selection of local people in the company before space is opened to professionals from China.
In conjunction with the Prime Minister’s four-day official visit to China, Malaysia achieved the highest investment commitment worth RM170 billion. This is a result of the signing of 19 memorandums of understanding between businesses in China and Malaysia in various fields, especially green technology and the digital economy.
China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009. In 2022, total bilateral trade was worth RM487.13 billion (US$110.62 billion), up by 15.6 percent from 2021.
