Malaysia should make it easier for foreigners and Singaporeans to enter the country, its High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk N. Parameswaran, has said.

Issues of crime rates, red tape and strict law enforcement also need to be addressed to make Malaysia a more attractive place for Singaporeans to visit and invest in, he said.

In an interview published in The Star newspaper yesterday, Kuala Lumpur's envoy to Singapore tackled the issue of falling investment numbers from the Republic in light of the Iskandar Development Region (IDR) project in South Johor.

Singapore, which was Malaysian's top investor previously, had fallen behind Lebanon and the Netherlands last year in the list of the state's major investors in the second half of the year.

He attributes part of this drop to Singaporeans' concern of the high crime rate in Johor.

"We, being a country larger than Singapore, will certainly have more crime, but I have always been assuring Singaporeans that Malaysia is really doing something, especially in the Johor."

Conversely, he is urging Malaysian law enforcement officials not to be overly strict with Singaporeans.

"We should not give the impression that we are waiting to catch them as soon as they cross the border," said Datuk Parameswaran.

He cited the recent cases of the Road Transport Department's (JPJ) action on Singapore vehicles with red number plates, which has since been stopped, the issuance of a summons in Malacca, and the imprisonment of a Singapore driver in Johor recently because of the vehicle's tinted glass.

He is also aware of complaints of the "many processes", or red tape investors face in doing business in Malaysia, and that Singaporeans would increasingly seek opportunities elsewhere if this were to persist.

To facilitate entry into Malaysia, he cited the pitching of a travel card concept to his own government, which would be based on the existing Malaysian Touch 'N' Go toll payment system, and which would allow frequent Singaporean travellers into the IDR easier immigration entry.

Once these issues have been sufficiently dealt with, Datuk Parameswaran said that the Malaysian government should embark on a drive to attract investments into Singapore, and the two states should work together to achieve this.

"Perhaps we should be guided by the remarks of Foreign Minister George Yeo in Parliament recently, when he said we should work together in the IDR on the basis of mutual respect and benefit," he told The Star.