The Prime Minister welcomed them, especially Fortune 500 companies, to invest or increase their investments in the digital economy, green technology and electric vehicles.
“I have proposed to Tesla to invest in the production of electric vehicles in Malaysia.”
He told Malaysian media after a meeting with US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) chairman and chief executive Ted Osius at a hotel.
The U.S.-ASEAN Business Council was established in 1984 to represent 170 major U.S. businesses in Southeast Asia.
Ismail Sabri said he asked the council to play a bigger role in attracting investment to Asean, especially Malaysia.
“They see Malaysia as an important trading partner of the US”
The Prime Minister then had another meeting at the same venue with the Secretary-General of the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA), Dr James Por-Saint.
Ismail Sabri said that WISTA will hold the World Conference on Information Technology (WCIT), the world's largest conference on information technology, in Penang in September.
“I hope this conference will benefit Malaysians in terms of technology. Attendees from all over the world, including speakers from NASA, will be here at the conference.”
At the same time, the Prime Minister met at the same venue with Dr. Adam Posen, Chairman of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and Dr. Limaye, Vice-Chairman of the American East-West Center think tank.
Separately, Ismail Sabri also held talks with Dr Kurt Campbell, Deputy Assistant to the President of the United States and Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs of the National Security Council.
The Prime Minister told Kurt Campbell that all ASEAN member states will participate in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) advocated by the US.
He pointed out that some ASEAN countries are currently not participating in major trade and economic initiatives in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Malaysia believes that all Asean countries should be involved, and Malaysia has agreed in principle to participate in the framework.”
