Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak was told to abolish the policy that requires foreign service companies to look for local partnership by London mayor Boris Johnson.

"I suggest that more could be done from Malaysia, that (foreign) service companies establish themselves directly in the country without the need to get local partners," said Johnson who was on a three day-visit to Kuala Lumpur.

"I humbly suggest that you might want to consider this," he told the audience at Khazanah Global Lectures last night.

Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor, Perak Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum and Sultanah Zara Salim also attended the talk.

Citing his city which opted to abolish such policy for many years, Johnson said that it had not resulted in local talents being squeezed out, but rather stimulated businesses and led to hundred of thousands of locals being hired.

London has become a service hub and modern city, he said, adding that both Malaysia and United Kingdom will enjoy unlimited flows of idea and investment between them if Malaysia did decide to do away with the quota system.

Malaysia has practised the local partnership policy for years to boost the bumiputera equity stake, a move which has been unpopular among foreign investors.

‘Najib, we surrender’

Johnson,at the the talk, presented locally-made cupcakes dubbed "London Cupcake" to Najib as a gift to symbolise the intensifying of business trade between both countries.

He said he wished the cupcakes will one day land in his city for Londoners to taste.

"I come to offer a surrender to city of KL, figuratively waving a white flag. Prime Minister Najib, you will win in the scoreboard race - we surrender, we surrender," joked the flamboyant and outspoken mayor, referring to both skyscrapers of Petronas Twin Towers and Menara 118.

"When I went for a morning run with a speed of an 85-year-old through Kuala Lumpur, I couldn't believe the shadow Petronas Tower (fell on me), I looked back and looked up, this thing is a hundred meters taller than Shard, which erupted in London like a gigantic cocktail stick," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

“There is no way London will build a 682-meter building of KL118 Tower, a building two and a half times taller than Shard,” he said.

The Shard ( right ) is a 87-storey skyscraper in London, dubbed as the tallest building in European Union. It was opened to the public last year.

No skyscrapers for London

Johnson opined that a city should "ruthlessly" conserve its heritage and culture against development.

"In London, we have a viewing corridor, so we can't build skyscrapers, as this will disrupt the view," he said.

He, however, said, London was not a city that can be underestimated as it has the fastest economic growth among European Union cities.

Among the achievements he named, were the city's crime rate drop of 11 percent.

Londoners’ lifespan increased an 18 months after he took office as it was the most popular tourist spot and most popular city to migrate, he said.

London now needs to address the consequences of such success, with more affordable housing needing to be built and the uplifting of quality of life.

"To distinguish the success of a future city, we need to see how the lowest income group live, how does the air smell like and (whether) the parents get to see their children in the evening," he said.

The job of keeping Londoners together

He also shared London's experience of how it brings different ethnicities and religions together.

"It's very important that we keep all ethnic and religious groups together - as tied closely together as we can.

"I think everybody who live in London should speak English, should be loyal to the country and the queen, understand its institution, history, value and principle.

"There is a community spirit which wasn't existent in the 1970s, where the racial (problems) were much worse then," he said.

Johnson, who was elected to office in 2008 and 2012, is also an author and a father of four.

"I don't watch much TV, I don't have glamorous evenings, I wake up early. I live a monastic life," he said when asked by the audience how he managed his time.

Meanwhile, former DAP vice-chairperson Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim complained  that the weather forecast show in BBC doesn't show Malaysia on its map, and urged Johnson to rectify and fire the board if he was elected as prime minister.

Johnson described this as a "disgrace" and promised that he will try to rectify it.

"I think it's a rash political meteorology to forecast any outcome of my political career, my prediction is cloudy-bright," he said, referring to his acceptance to contest in the next general election as a parliamentary candidate.