“Global economic performance and that of advanced nations is anticipated to be sluggish for this year and next.

“Hence, the strength of local investors, and the quantity and quality of domestic investments must be enhanced,” he said, pointing to an IMF projection that world and advanced nation economic growth would be lower for the coming year at 3%.

Noor Azlan added that the economy had not fully recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, and the global economy was still facing various challenges.

“Tense geopolitical status, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, recent violence in Palestine, and the trade tensions between the US and China are impacting global supply chains,” he said in a Facebook post.

The deteriorating state of nature and climate sustainability are affecting global food production, which is a concern for Malaysia as a food-importing nation, he added.

“As a trading nation, the status of the global economy is one of the key factors influencing the country’s economic performance,” Noor Azlan said.

Therefore, he said, to build long-term economic stability, Malaysia must prioritise strengthening and growing its economy.

Earlier, a similar call was made by economist KS Jomo for a re-evaluation of Malaysia’s investment priorities, advocating a greater focus on domestic investments.

Jomo said Malaysia had prioritised foreign investments over domestic for the past seven decades, a strategy he believed had not yielded the desired results.

Previously, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim also said more comprehensive efforts must be made to boost domestic direct investment and thus attract more foreign direct investment.