Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has urged Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak not to use foreign direct investment (FDIs) as a “political weapon”.

Lim said the Penang government has no interest in playing politics with Najib on FDIs.

“FDIs is too important an economic and livelihood issue for 30 million Malaysians to be weaponized against political opponents,” Lim said in a statement today.

This is in response to a recent blog posting by Najib, in which the prime minister had noted that many foreign investors had left Penang and accused Lim of "changing his tune" in accusing the federal government of selling the country, when many foreigners invested in federal projects. 

Lim refuted Najib's claims that foreign investors were leaving Penang or were no longer interested to invest in the state. 

He cited figures from the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority from 2008-2016, which reveal that Penang came out third in Malaysia for FDIs, with RM41,554 million, just behind Johor and Sarawak. 

"If Penang is in trouble, then the other 11 states in Malaysia who have less FDIs are in greater trouble," he said.

He said the Penang state government will continue to collaborate with the federal government to attract more FDIs. 

“This is especially so in the digital or manufacturing (electrical and electronic) industry which creates jobs and business opportunities."