Bahrain tycoon says Bumi policy can scare away investors

By Yow Hong Chieh

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 28 — Malaysia risks scaring away foreign investors if it insists on pursuing Bumiputera affirmative action policies, a top official of a major Bahrain conglomerate said today.

“There is one thing Malaysia has to be careful of. You have a ‘delightful’ law here... where you give the local population certain seats or certain preference or certain licences,” Kanoo Group deputy chairman Mishal Hamed Kanoo told reporters at the “Dawn of the New Decade: Alternative Investments in Asia” forum here today.

“If you do that and foreign investors want to come in — they’re not used to this idea — you might scare them.”