Malaysia: Big investor ignored by media

Malaysia is Sri Lanka’s biggest investor and many more investors from there are eyeing the island, Malaysia’s departing High Commissioner Nazirah Hussain said.

“Unfortunately the media doesn’t highlight the fact that Malaysia is the biggest investor in Sri Lanka. Often the focus is on the ‘bigger’ countries although we have been the biggest, for two years in a row,” she lamented at a ceremony on Friday at the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce.

Hussain leaves next week after a three year assignment which saw the East Asian country which in her words is “a developing nation just like Sri Lanka”, oust other high fliers from the biggest investor status. Much of that credit goes to Dialog Telekom which represents almost half of Malaysian investments in Sri Lanka of US$ 600 million between 2004-2006.

The high commissioner was being feted by the Sri Lanka Malaysia Business Council. Asked about the high and low points during her tenure, Hussain said there were many positives. “Not many low points but maybe poverty. I was moved by the poverty,” she said.

In fact rather than being given an expensive send-off ceremony and expensive gift, the Council, at her request, donated sports equipment to a poor school in Colombo South.