KUALA LUMPUR: The government will introduce a new national investment policy to attract more high-quality investors as the country moves towards a high-income nation, Senior Minister cum International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said.

He said a working paper on the proposed policy has been approved and endorsed by the Economic Action Council (EAC) and will be presented to the Cabinet within this month.

"After long deliberations and engagement with Bank Negara Malaysia, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), we thought it is timely for us to introduce this new investment policy.

"The purpose of this national investment aspiration is to attract quality and technological investment so that we can prepare our workforce to meet the industry's demand," he told the media after attending a special assembly at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) here Wednesday.

Following deliberations between MITI, the EAC, and MIDA, Mohamed Azmin said it was decided that a proposal to introduce new incentives to attract foreign investors into Malaysia will be further discussed with the MoF.

In another development, Mohamed Azmin said the National Security Council has approved the implementation of the Safe@Work initiative which will be officially launched by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in the coming weeks.

He said the initiative will create an 'industry bubble' between workers, who have been identified as close contacts of COVID-19 positive cases, and their work place so that the industry will remain operational and productive.

"We will segregate the workers, who are close contacts, and create a 'bubble' between the hostel and the factory so that the workers will be transported within the agreed 'bubble '.

"The industry will continue to operate and not disturbed so that they can increase production and productivity. I am also happy that this initiative has the support of the industry," he added.

-- BERNAMA