Malaysia Draws US$33.3 Billion Investments In First 9 Months

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia attracted a total of US$33.30 billion (RM139.3 billion, US$1 = RM4.18) worth of investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in the first nine months of 2018, up 18 per cent from RM118.1 billion approved in the same period last year. In a statement Thursday, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said the total investments approved in January-September 2018 were from 3,243 projects, which are expected to generate 93,379 job opportunities for the country. “Approved foreign direct investments (FDI) increased by 109.7 per cent to RM64.1 billion in January-September 2018 from RM30.5 billion in the same period last year, mainly driven by the manufacturing sector which recorded a strong increase of 249.4 per cent in the period. “Approved FDI in the primary sector rose by 99.3 per cent which indicated that investor confidence in Malaysia remains high despite the challenging global economic environment. Domestic investments led with RM75.2 billion, contributing 54 per cent to the total approved investments in all three sectors,” it said. MIDA said Malaysia continued to be a competitive location for manufacturing projects with a total of 468 projects worth RM59.1 billion approved in January-September 2018, compared with RM34.6 billion involving 463 projects in the corresponding period in 2017, representing an increase of 70.5 per cent in capital investments. “Foreign investments approved in the manufacturing sector recorded a total of RM48.8 billion for January-September 2018, a rise of 249.4 per cent from RM13.9 billion in the same period last year. “China accounted for RM15.6 billion or 32 per cent of total foreign investments, followed by Indonesia (18.4 per cent), the Netherlands (17 per cent), the US (6.3 per cent), Korea (4.9 per cent) and Japan (4.3 per cent),” it added. For the services sector, MIDA said approved investments amounted to RM69.9 billion compared with RM74.2 billion recorded in the corresponding period in 2017, consisting of 2,721 projects, which are expected to create 50,896 job opportunities. “Domestic investments made up the largest portion, recording RM60.4 billion or 86.4 per cent of the total approved investments for the services sector during this period. The balance of RM9.5 billion were from foreign sources. “The services sub-sectors that showed an increase in approved investments were healthcare, education, global establishments, real estate, and supporting services,” it added. -- BERNAMA