In January, Goldman Sachs was granted licenses by the Securities Commission in Malaysia to set up fund management and investment advisory services in Malaysia.

FORBES: Too Big To Fail But Brazen Enough To Still Get Bigger

Here I would like to reiterate our commitment to the UNESCO-Malaysia Cooperation Trust Fund which my Prime Minister launched at the last General Conference.

UNESCO: Speech by Hon Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin During the 184th UNESCO Executive Board Meeting,

Tony Fernandes, the bullish chief executive, says that his dream of a new airport was born out of frustration with Malaysia Airports, KLIA's operator, which is controlled by Khazanah Nasional, the government's investment fund, as is Malaysia Airlines, the national flag-carrier.

ECONOMIST: Malaysia's airport controversy

"I think London will give Malaysia and the rest of the Islamic world a run for its money, " said Mark Toh, chief executive of Prudential's fund management business in Malaysia.

FORBES: Contenders For The Crown

Moreover, foreign fund managers are again complaining about Malaysia's lack of transparency, lack of corporate governance.

CNN: Business: Malaysia's Stock Market

"That's why the shares of Advanced Information or Total Access Communications (TAC) in Thailand and TRI in Malaysia have been hit, " says a Hong Kong fund manager who has been a big cellular fan.

CNN: Cell-Phones On the Line

Prime Minister Najib Razak reached out to investors by highlighting Malaysia's potential for investment during a meeting with Asian fund managers in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

FORBES: Malaysia Pitches For Investors

South-East Asia, too, has a number of mandatory schemes, but often (as in Malaysia and Singapore) it is the government that controls the fund and decides how workers' assets should be invested.

ECONOMIST: Time is working against state pensions

He had proposed an Asian Monetary Fund more attuned to the region's needs, and had lauded Malaysia's currency controls.

CNN: Fund of New Ideas

IMF, Malaysia's government did a better job than most of its neighbours of following the fund's advice.

ECONOMIST: Asia’s rollercoaster rides | The

Two of Asia's biggest financial centres, Malaysia and Singapore, also restrict access to their markets in order to nurture their fledgling domestic fund-management companies.

ECONOMIST: Local restrictions permitting

While Asian leaders such as Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad railed against individuals such as George Soros, we imagined fresh-faced fund managers and investment analysts gleefully downgrading us, junking our bonds and dumping our currencies out of sheer spite.

CNN: Sign-off 1998