Malaysian investors eye ‘smart’ partnerships

Salifuddin Khalid, Trade Commissioner, Malaysian Trade Office, has said that investors from Malaysia are in search of partnership deals with local businesses in what they call ‘smart’ partnerships, which will allow the Malaysian companies to enter the Ghanaian market without concern for competition from local enterprises.

Speaking to B&FT on the sidelines of the Malaysia-Ghana economic forum held in Accra last Thursday, which was themed ‘Strengthening trade & business relations between Ghana and Malaysia’, Mr. Khalid said Malaysia has eyed investment in some of the economy’s key sectors, particularly the service sector in Ghana.

He stressed that Malaysian companies are looking forward to forming strong partnerships with local businesses in order to avoid the situation of competing with local firms for market share.

“We are also looking at smart partnerships. What this means is that we are going to form partnerships with companies, both small and large, so that we grow with them together instead of competing directly with them. We believe this is the way to build a strong economy,” he said.

He further added that the service sector, which has been an untapped area by Malaysian investors in Ghana, will now receive much attention as it has the potential of contributing immensely to economic growth in the country.

“The service sector is key if Ghana is to move forward. Key areas which we have identified in this sector include logistics and supply chain, engineering services, business support services among others. These are critical in making sure that indigenous companies and investors sustain their business. That is why we are now coming to focus more attention in this sector that has great prospects for Ghana,” he said.

Ghana’s economy has been faced with a number of challenges this year. Notable among them are the high cost of doing business, particularly driven by high interest rates; collapse of the local currency; high inflation rate and the mounting public wage bill that has stalled development; and above all the power shortfalls which have negatively affected production in the country.

These, some stakeholders of the economy believe, are scaring away potential investors and driving away existing ones.

However, commenting on the situation, Mr. Khalid remained upbeat about prospects that exist in the seemingly weak economy and urged investors to see the challenges facing the economy as an opportunity to develop innovative products to tackle them.

“Successful businessmen around the world are people who are able to produce innovative products to bring about solutions to some problems. So for us Malaysian investors, we see it as an opportunity to provide solutions to the challenges in Ghana.

“For example, let’s say there are security challenges in some communities. An innovative businessman will provide a solution by setting up a security company to train personnel in providing security services to the community, thereby creating jobs and also offering a solution to an existing challenge,” he said.

Adding his comment on the theme, Ibrahim Murtala -- Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, urged Ghanaians to desist from making comparisons with Malaysia in terms of development because both countries gained independence from British colony in 1957.

“People who compare Ghana to Malaysia should also take into consideration the political atmosphere that existed in both countries after independence. Ghana experienced a lot of coup d’états unabated, but Malaysia did not…All these situations delayed development in Ghana,” he said.

He however encouraged Ghanaians to take partnerships with foreign investors seriously in order to develop their capacity to produce locally and make the economy export-driven.