Australian financial services companies looking to tap into the Asia Pacific region can cash in on tax breaks by making Malaysia their business hub.
"Sydney has the distinction of being the world's third busiest financial centre after New York and London," Malaysian minister of international trade and industry Rafidah Aziz told delegates in Sydney yesterday.
"In this context, I urge businessmen from New South Wales to leverage on Malaysia's comparative advantage in financial services to penetrate new markets in ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) and the West Asia especially in the areas of Islamic financial services."
The Malaysian Government has identified several growth centres including the Iskandar Development Region, which is three times the size of Singapore.
Financial advisory and consulting services will help attract $130 billion in capital investment in the region in the next 25 years.
Business incentives include 10 year income tax breaks, exemption from withholding tax on royalty and technical fee payments to non-residents for 10 years and unrestricted hiring of foreign employees.
In 2006, the Islamic banking system in Malaysia showed robust growth with high profitability.
Shariah-compliant assets rose to $34 billion, which is 13 per cent of the market share, compared to less than 3 per cent 10 years ago.
Of the 5800 offshore companies operating in Malaysia, more than 300 are Australian. They include Macquarie Bank, BGC Insurance and Advisers Worldwide.
