[Pelabur sudah keresahan kerana kemelesetan ekonomi A.S. dijangka akan berpanjangan lebih dari jangkaan. Menurut MTUC 90,000 pekerja diramalkan akan kehilangan kerja tahun ini jika keadaan tidak berubah. Di Pulau Pinang lebih kurang 10,000 telah hilang pekerjaan manakala dalam sektor perbankan 10,000 juga akan terbabit.

Mahathir menyuruh pelabur mencari jalan sedangkan dia sendiri yang telah menyempitkan semua jalan dan mengutuk serta mengejek orang asing bukan-bukan. Akibatnya pelabur luar lebih sanggup meletak wang mereka di negara lain seperti Singapura walaupun tenaga buruhnya lebih mahal. (Businessweek)

Selebihnya telah lari ke negara China kerana kos yang lebih murah dan kerajaan di sana amat mesra pelabur - tidak seperti Malaysia. Jika China diterima menyertai WTO, alamat akan semakin pudar lagilah masa depan Malaysia. Daya saing Malaysia sudah semakin melemah akibat kedegilan dan wawasan Mahathir sendiri. Yang merana kini adalah rakyat sendiri - dan itu termasuk hartawan dan penyokong kuat Umno juga yang asyik mengampu apa sahaja.
- Editor]

http://www.bizedge.com.my/article.cfm?id=6074

09-07-2001:

BNM int'l reserves fall marginally to RM98.85 bln

By Sidek Kamiso, 5.25pm

Bank Negara's international reserves comprising gold and foreign exchange fell marginally to RM98.85 billion or the equivalent of US$26.01 billion at end-June from RM98.90 billion a fortnight ago, said the central bank in a statement on June 9.

The central bank said despite the fall, continued inflows of trade and foreign direct investment during the second half of June had resulted in higher international reserves to RM100.1 billion or US$26.3 billion at end-June.

The lower international reserves were attributed to the quarterly adjustment for revaluation loss mainly as a result of continued weakness of the Euro, it added.

It said, the level of reserves was adequate to finance 3.9 months of retained imports and was 5.6 times of short term external debt.

http://www.bizedge.com.my/article.cfm?id=6136

Domestic investment to be prime mover, FDI slackens globally

By Thomas Soon, 4.42pm

Malaysia has to find ways to stimulate domestic investment to spur growth in view of slackening foreign direct investments amid the global economic downturn, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr Mahathir said local companies must find ways to increase domestic investments particularly in manufacturing of certain goods that could be exported to developing countries other than Malaysia's traditional trading partners.

'The private sector's ability to spur economic growth is important given that we cannot be over-dependent on the government or on foreign direct investment.

'FDIs are now on the decline globally. In Asia, most FDIs are being channelled to China. This is why domestic investment is important,' he said at the start of the first dialogue session of Budget 2002 in Putrajaya on July 10.

Dr Mahathir said Malaysia should fully exploit its capacities and capabilities to produce quality goods, which could be marketed and exported to other developing countries, to offset slackening FDIs.

'Our goods such domestic appliances, fabrications and furniture can be exported. We find that many are interested to buy made-in-Malaysia products. At times, the leaders of the countries specifically ask for certain items,' he said.

Speaking to reporters later, Dr Mahathir said participants had expressed concerns that the global economic slowdown may last longer than had earlier been anticipated. He added that it was another reason why domestic investment was important.

http://news.catcha.com/my/content.phtml? 1&010&&afpnews.cgi&cat=malaysia&story= 010709093343.ntbzboq6.txt

90,000 Malaysians could lose jobs this year: trade union

KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 (AFP) - Some 90,000 workers in Malaysia could lose their jobs this year if the US economy does not recover, Malaysia's trade union chief predicted Monday.

The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Zainal Rampak said the union's records showed an average of 5,000 to 10,000 people lose their jobs monthly.

So far, he said some 10,000 workers in the electronics industry in northern Penang state have been retrenched while another 10,000 employees would be affected by a series of banking mergers.

"My guess is if electronics demand does not pick up and if the US and Japanese economy does not recover in the next few months, 90,000 people across all sectors may lose their jobs this year," he told AFP.

Electrical and electronics goods comprise about 60 percent of Malaysia's exports.

Almost 21 percent of all Malaysia's exports are to the United States, making it vulnerable to the economic slowdown there. Most analysts predict the economy will grow by less than half the 8.5 percent rate of last year.

Zainal said employers in the private sector should provide new skills to their workers, instead of retrenching them during hard times.

The MTUC, which represents some 550,000 local workers, last week called for a freeze on the intake of foreign workers in the private sector.

It said there were more than sufficient local workers to take up all available jobs in the country.