Cross-country investments seen key to Asean integration
Ann/ The Straits Times
Asean companies should not let potential controversy derail them from investing in each other's countries as this will work against economic integration, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. He was responding to questions from Asean journalists on Temasek Holdings' troubled investment in Thailand's Shin Corp and whether he thought companies should avoid politically unpopular moves. He said on Friday, he would not advise any company to invest if it was going to "cause a big rumpus". "On the other hand, I would say that if we all take the approach and don't want to invest in one another because it may become controversial, then you will have an Asean where there will be no economic integration, interdependence or cooperation," he added. He made the point that countries would have to manage the fallout from investments which sometimes became "politically sensitive". Singapore, on its part, was open to investors from other Asean countries. Lee was also asked if Singapore's investment in Malaysia's Iskandar Development Region, a new economic zone in south Johor, was a "politically sensitive" issue. He said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi and other leaders did not see it that way. Investors would have to decide whether this was a good opportunity and whether they would be welcome, he added.
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