The poor reputation of the few, controversial Beijing-backed infrastructure projects that Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is seeking to cancel should not detract from the overall benefits of “dynamic” Chinese investments into Malaysia, a prominent local political economist has said.
Unlike the US$23 billion worth of projects Mahathir is seeking to cancel, there are smaller-scale investments from private Chinese investors into Malaysia’s manufacturing sector that are not in the limelight, said University of Malaya professor Edmund Terence Gomez.