GE 13 : The Best Bet for Business

There have been unmistakable signs from the business community pointing to the political side they favour in this election: Barisan Nasional. Investors have made no secret of their support for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his pro-business track record. The stability and reform agenda he symbolises is expected to intensify further if the rakyat give him a strong mandate at GE13.
After all, Najib's leadership has ensured that Malaysia is seeing economic growth of 5.6 per cent at a time when 1 per cent would be considered 'robust' in the West. Jobs are being created in their thousands under his Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), while in the West youth unemployment has hit 50 per cent in some countries.
The BN government's pro-business policies have ensured that Malaysia retains its position as the leading investment destination in Southeast Asia. As a result, global funds pumped more cash in 2012 into Malaysia's sovereign debt than Indonesian or Thai bonds for a fourth year running, attracted by the highest real yields and the safest credit rating among the three economies.
Malaysia is also rated 'A3' by Moody's Investors Service – three levels above Indonesia and one higher than Thailand, while our nation's 10-year bonds pay 2.3 per cent after accounting for inflation, compared to 0.9 per cent and 0.1 per cent for our two neighbours.
These factors are bringing in more big-ticket investments. Qatar's sovereign wealth fund recently announced plans to invest RM30 billion in Malaysia, half of which will be on the Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (RAPID) project in Pengerang, Johor.
The petrochemicals complex is expected to attract RM170 billion in investments by the time it begins operations in 2016. It aims to transform the nation into the top petrochemical hub in Southeast Asia, overtaking neighbouring Singapore.
Yet this is just one of the large-scale projects targeted by Pakatan Rakyat in its manifesto, which promised to "review" RAPID if it wins the election.
The Opposition has also threatened to "halt operations" at the Lynas rare earths plant in Gebeng, Pahang, if elected. Malaysia can then say goodbye to the jobs that this RM2.5 billion project would create, along with the technical knowhow in rare earths that the nation would get in the process.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tried to backpedal on the issue last month – claiming to an Australian newspaper that Lynas would only be shut down if the plant was shown to be unsafe – but there are enough hardline voices within Pakatan calling for the project to be scrapped.
What message does this send out to the business community? That a Pakatan government would hold investments and projects hostage to politics. This would harm Malaysia's reputation as a foreign investment destination and overall impact the economy and jobs.
And it's not just foreign investors who think a Pakatan win would affect the economy. Small and medium businesses are also worried that Pakatan's promise to increase the minimum wage to an unsustainable RM1,100 a month would drive them into bankruptcy.