He welcomed them, especially the Fortune 500 companies, to invest or increase their investment, especially in the digital economy, green technology and electric car sectors.

“I’ve suggested to Tesla to invest in Malaysia in producing electric cars,” he told Malaysian journalists after meeting Ted Osius, president and chief executive officer of the US-Asean Business Council (US-ABC) here.

Set up in 1984, the US-ABC represents 170 major American businesses in Southeast Asia.

Ismail arrived here on Tuesday for a four-day working visit to the US, during which he would meet with President Joe Biden and Asean leaders.

He said he has asked the US-ABC to play a bigger role in attracting investments to Asean, especially Malaysia.

“They regard Malaysia as an important trading partner of the US,” he said.

Later, Ismail held a meeting with World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) secretary-general James H Poisant at the same venue.

He said the WITSA will hold the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), the world’s largest IT conference, in Penang in September.