WASHINGTON DC: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has rolled out the red carpet for American investors and businessmen as he presented Malaysia as a preferred investment destination.

       He said Malaysia welcomed investors, especially those from Fortune 500 companies, in the digital, green technology and electric car sectors.

       “I’ve suggested to Tesla to invest in Malaysia to produce electric cars,” he told Malaysian journalists after meeting Ambassador Ted Osius, president and chief executive officer of the US-Asean Business Council (US-ABC) at a hotel here yesterday.

       Set up in 1984, the US-ABC represents 170 major American businesses in South-East Asia.

       Ismail Sabri said he asked the US-ABC to play a bigger role in attracting investment to Asean, especially Malaysia.

       “They regard Malaysia as an important trading partner of the United States,” the Prime Minister said of the US-ABC.

       Later, Ismail Sabri had a separate session with World Information Technology and Services Alliance (Witsa) secretary-general Dr James H. Poisant at the same venue.

       The Prime Minister, reported Bernama, said Witsa would hold the World Congress on Information Technology, the world’s largest IT conference, in Penang this September.

       “I hope this congress will benefit Malaysians in terms of technology,” he said, adding that participants from all over the world, including speakers from America’s space agency, would converge at the congress.

       The Prime Minister also held a separate discussion with Dr Kurt M. Campbell, deputy assistant to the US president and coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs in the National Security Council.

       Ismail Sabri told Campbell that all Asean member countries should be involved with the US-led initiative, the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF).