PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) and Citibank Bhd (Citi Malaysia) have teamed up to provide a financial platform and end-to-end banking services to new and existing foreign investors in Malaysia.

       Yesterday, Mida and Citi Malaysia inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the partnership.

       In a statement, Mida chief executive officer (CEO) Arham Abdul Rahman said the MoU testified to its commitment of pursuing high technology and high value-added investment projects to drive the country’s economic growth.

       “In response to the changing global business landscape, Malaysia is adopting bold and impactful initiatives to encourage existing as well as new investors and industry players to induce new investments into the country.

       “I trust this partnership will also boost the government’s ongoing efforts to position Malaysia as the pre-eminent preferred investment destination in the region.”

       Meanwhile, Citi Malaysia CEO Usman Ahmed said the rationale behind the partnership was the expansion of its institutional business in Malaysia. “We continue to present Malaysia as an attractive investment destination to our clients across the globe,” he added.

       Given that Citi Malaysia’s global subsidiaries and commercial banking businesses have facilitated investment flows, Usman noted that its partnership with Mida would also help to complement each other’s efforts.

       Despite the challenging operating environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he said there had been significant growth across key investment corridors, as Malaysia continued to stand out as an important and competitive investment destination.

       “We thank Mida for this opportunity to work together to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) and trade flows. As the world’s most global bank, Citi has a presence in 96 countries and does business in over 160 countries and through this MoU, we look forward to harnessing the full potential of our network, world-class products and digital banking capabilities to further deepen our commitment to the country.” he added.

       Citi Malaysia is one of the largest market makers for Malaysian Government Securities and is among the top foreign banks in the country for corporate foreign exchange, cross-border cash management and institutional investor transactions.