ISKANDAR PUTERI: International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed today gave assurances that the long-envisioned Kra Canal project in Thailand, if it materialises, will not impact Malaysia in the near future.
He said the project would take a long time to be implemented.
“We have been talking about this for the past 40 to 50 years. People keep reviving the issue every now and then.
“If it happens, it is going to be a long time and by that time, Asean would be even more closely integrated,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Invest Iskandar Malaysia 2017 Symposium here.
To say that it would not have any impact at all on Malaysia and Singapore was not true, he said, reiterating however that the project would not be happening in the near future.
Mustapa was commenting on an opinion piece published today which said the Kra Canal project, which will see ships accessing Thailand from the Indian Ocean, bypassing Malaysia and Singapore, would impact investments, infrastructure projects and ports in these two countries.
On intra-Asean investments, he said the ministry would actively promote Malaysia as a preferred Asean investment destination.
“In Asean, there is a growing appetite by some Asean companies for investment in another country in the region.
“At the moment, we see companies in Singapore investing in Johor and Indonesia, as well as Thai companies investing in Johor,” he said, adding that more efforts could be made to attract the Indonesian companies.
Citing Iskandar Malaysia as a strategic location, he said its proximity to Singapore could be an advantage to attract the companies to invest in Johor.
Sumber No immediate impact from Kra Canal project, says Mustapa