The ‘negative noises’ associated with the problems of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) should not be allowed to affect the country's current strength and investments.

Finance Ministry secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said the positive aspects on the country and the strong sectors should be highlighted to the foreigners.

“We do not want the country we built to collapse due to the issues we faced, including the ‘negative noises’, because the foreigners who want to trade with us will certainly consider them.

“So because of it, we have to highlight the country’s positive aspects and the good things,” he said.

Mohd Irwan said this after officially opening the 11th National Conference on Malaysian Economy in Putrajaya today.

He said although there were ‘negative noises’ about 1MDB, the reception to the issue of the new government sukuk indicated there was still faith in the Malaysian economy.

“In April, the Malaysian government’s US$1.5 billion bond issued via a special-purpose entity, Malaysia Global Sukuk Bhd, was oversubscribed 4.2 times,” he said.

Mohd Irwan advised investors to focus on new markets such as in India and West Asia which recorded strong economic growth.

“We should look for opportunities to penetrate the market in India where the middle income class is growing compared to the traditional market like China,” he said.

He said the strategies and efforts should be focused on penetrating the West Asian countries, especially in the halal products sector.

- Bernama