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Kuala Lumpur / DPA
Some 1,500 Malaysian companies have investments totalling 11.46 billion ringgit (US$2.81 billion) in Asean, said Prime Minister Najib Razak.
“Malaysia is among the main investors in Asean with our firms investing widely in banking, commodities, hotel and tourism, aviation, manufacturing, and utility and infrastructure. Intra-Asean investments have also increased,” the prime minister said in reply to MP Annuar Musa. Najib noted that the inflow of investments into Asean stood at 562.42 billion ringgit in 2014, more than that of China at 529.34 billion ringgit.
On the formation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Najib said the objective was to see to the creation of a single market covering a population of 625 million people.
Malaysia, Najib added, was committed towards seeing the integration of Asean economies with the abolishment of duty imports and the liberalisation of the service sector.