Telekom Malaysia pledges more investments

Lionel Yodhasinghe reporting from Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia, a friendly nation in the region is committed towards the telecommunication development in Sri Lanka and determined to diversify its investment in the future despite the conflict situation in the North and the East, Telekom Malaysia (TM) CEO (International Operations) Yusof Annuar Yaacob said.

During an exclusive interview with a group of Sri Lankan journalists at the TM head quarters in Kuala Lumpur last week Yaacob said that TM's role in Sri Lanka is long term and it has no intention to pack its bags and leave the country as some other investors after every single incident.

Our commitment in Sri Lanka has been made after a thorough study of the political and economic situation in the country, and TM realised that the potential in the sector is vast.

It believes conflict and political turmoil is not restricted to Sri Lanka and as an emerging leader in Asian communication sector TM decided to invest in the country including the North and the East.

"When we started business in Sri Lanka with only US$45.6 million 10 years ago, the TM subsidiary Dialog GSM was the number four player.

It is now the number one cellular communication company in Sri Lanka and has assets more than US$1.8 billion", Yaacob said.

He said long term relations and interaction with the local communities build confidence in the company and as Sri Lankans are patriotic population, TM was able to establish itself strategically to see a significant growth during the past five years and it was 41.2 percent in revenue terms.

Earlier, Yaacob told a gathering of journalists from eight countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand and Sri Lanka,

"We need to be patient and have faith in the company and country we have invested in. A good example would be our investment in Sri Lanka which is a zero to hero story".

He said emerging markets continue to present tremendous opportunities for growth and expansion and TM is ready to manage situation such as political risk and other legal and regulatory rules investing in countries such as Sri Lanka.

During the forum sessions TM Group CEO Dr. Abdul Wahid Omar and Yaacob hailed in unison Sri Lanka's Dialog boss Dr.Hans Wijesuriya as one of the most successful CEOs in the region who led the zero to hero story within ten years in Sri Lanka.

Yaacob said the untiring doctor with a clear vision and strong entrepreneurial skills developed the company to the mobile telecom giant in Sri Lanka, and TM is fully confident to continue its future investment in the island to provide the latest telecommunication technology including 3G facility to help people in the country to work achieve its development goals while achieving the TM's corporate goals.