This is a welcome step because Malaysia received just $6 billion (Rs23,880 crore) of foreign direct investment last year. The government has said that companies setting up tourism or logistics businesses in the Iskandar Development Region of Johor won’t need to comply with a rule requiring foreign companies to have at least 30% ethnic Malay ownership. To the extent affirmative-action policies make Malaysia unattractive to foreign investors, Abdullah has already shown a willingness to respond. There are, of course, limits to how far Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi may be prepared to go and how soon. And while privileges granted to the Malay Bumiputeras-or “sons of the soil"-can’t be taken away abruptly, the case for separating entitlements from racial identity is building. Many in the minority Chinese and Indian communities are disenchanted with economic policies that favour the Malays.
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