The prime minister extended the invitation in a meeting with leaders of major Japanese economic organisations here today.

“We are not going to have too many bureaucratic hindrances or procedures that would deter foreign investors,” Mahathir said.

The country’s seventh prime minister said investors must tell the government what were the obstacles they faced in Malaysia.

“The Malaysian government will give due consideration to your problems and try to resolve them,” he said.

The meeting was attended, among others, by top officials from companies such as Panasonic Corporation, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation, Hitachi Ltd, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, Honda Motors Co Ltd, Marubeni Corporation and Japan Airlines Co Ltd.

Mahathir said that besides Foreign Direct Investment, Malaysia would like to learn how “to produce things by ourselves”.

“For that, we need Japanese technology which is very advanced. And coupled with Japanese work ethics, Malaysia will be able to develop much faster,” he said.

He expressed hope that Japanese investors would set up more manufacturing plants in Malaysia, providing more jobs for Malaysians in the process.

“One of the challenges that we have is unemployment. We need new investments from abroad so that jobs can be created for our people,” he said.

Dr Mahathir’s three-day working visit to Japan ends today.