At a forum organised by KLSCAH, Jomo said Malaysia has historically prioritised foreign investments over domestic investments for the past seven decades, a strategy he believes has not yielded the desired results.

He acknowledged that with various laws and international agreements, it was more advantageous for local investors to register their companies abroad, such as in Singapore, than in Malaysia.

“You can get more privileges by being a foreign investor, say in the south of the Causeway, then you can be (from) being based in Malaysia.

“It is not a surprise that the company, which I didn’t use this morning, is run by Malaysians (but) is actually registered in Singapore,” he said, referring to e-hailing operator Grab, after he opted to travel by taxi to the forum this morning.

Grab was initially founded as MyTeksi by Anthony Tan and Tan Hooi Ling in 2012 with the aim of enhancing the safety of taxi rides in Malaysia. However, they later relocated the company to Singapore.

Previously, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said more comprehensive efforts must be made to boost domestic direct investments (DDI) to attract more foreign direct investments (FDI).

The investment, trade and industry ministry reportedly said it was committed to achieving a good balance between FDI and DDI to ensure sustainable and balanced development throughout the country.

Jomo also said Malaysia should reduce its dependence on foreign portfolio investment, claiming that it played a role in the 1997-1998 Asian Financial Crisis which also affected Malaysia.

As such, he said, the government should be more proactive and progressive in the matter.

“Unfortunately, we have a situation where, over the last half decade or so, we have been moving from one kind of crisis management to another kind of crisis management, which does not lend itself to a progressive role for government,” he said.