WASHINGTON, April 25 (Bernama) -- An international investment firm's very positive recommendation of Malaysia reflects investors' confidence in the country's stable political environment following the strong mandate given to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in the recent general election.

Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said here Saturday that the recommendation by JP Morgan "is very good for us and reflects the views of other fund managers".

A JP Morgan analyst had said that Malaysia is the only country in Asia with an "overweight" recommendation in view of its low political risk compared with political uncertainties in other Asian countries.

Nor Mohamed, who is here for the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Spring meetings which began Saturday, has met with fund managers and business executives in London and Washington for dialogues and discussions on Malaysia's politics and economy.

In his meetings, he updated investors and businessmen on the country's economic policies under Abdullah, which is driven by productivity and efficiency, he told Bernama in an interview.

"We're expecting growth of 6-6.5 per cent this year, very low inflation. Meanwhile, the export, commodities and domestic sectors are doing extremely well, including tourism, which is attracting more than one million visitors a month.

"With the financial crisis over and recession out of the way, the government is implementing policies to enable the private sector to take the lead in building a strong and sustainable growth for the country.

"What is most exciting is that we want to create a culture of performance within government-linked companies such as Telekom, Tenaga, Malaysia Airlines and Sime Darby.

"They're very excited that we're moving towards a performance-driven economy and culture across the country to create faster growth," Nor Mohamed said.

He said investors also showed a keen interest to subscribe in any future bond issue Malaysia planned to undertake.

"My impression is that if we come up with another issue there will likely be an overwhelming response," he added.

Ambassador Datuk Ghazzali Sheikh Khalid, who attended the meeting here, said more than 20 top business executives who held discussions with the minister Friday night were very eager to move forward, having heard the minister outline measures for growth driven by the private sector.

-- BERNAMA