2008 10:56 PM
(Source: New Straits Times)By V. Vasudevan; Irdiani Mohd Salleh; Evangeline Majawat
THE opposition has called on the government to have bipartisan discussions on the country's economy.
Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the finance minister should take the initiative to do this in Parliament or in a roundtable discussion.
"We are here to engage and assist," he said at the Parliament lobby yesterday after his motion to discuss the economy was rejected by Deputy Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Ronald Kiandee.
He had called for an adjournment of the House to discuss the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Report 2008 on the outflow of foreign direct investment of RM38 billion. The inflow was RM29 billion last year, resulting in a negative FDI of RM9 billion.
He said the outflow had been happening since 2005 and if this continued, it could cause a contraction in the economy, a decline in gross domestic products and unemployment.
He asked why was there an increase of investments in most Asean member countries except Malaysia.
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