MIDA Approves Re Investments Of Rm2.07 Billion

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) has approved investments totalling RM2.07 billion (US$463,96 million) for renewable energy (RE) projects between January-August this year. The figure surpassed the RM1.37 billion in investments approved for the whole of 2015. Deputy Chief Executive Officer ll, N. Rajendran said in 2014, total investments of RM1.2 billion were approved for the same projects. "German companies not only continue to invest in Malaysia, but more importantly, in quality projects, while incorporating the latest technology and high value added activities," he told a press conference on the sidelines of the 'RE Symposium Decentralised Power Generation' here Tuesday. The one-day symposium, which gathered Malaysian and German RE-related industry players, was organised by the Malaysia-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC). Its Executive Director Daniel Bernbeck said Germany RE companies are keen to establish joint-ventures with Malaysian companies for decentralised power generation projects, especially in solar energy, hybrid system and mini-hydro in rural Sabah and Sarawak. He said the opportunities for such projects are tremendous given the lack of access for people to sustained electricity and have to rely on diesel generators as well as other forms of alternatives, including RE. "There is demand from the industry to electrify rural areas that don't have the grid as we cannot foresee the connection to it in the next five years to come," he added. Rajendran urged Malaysian companies as such to grab the opportunity to expose their capabilities in securing investments from these potential RE projects. "We call on Malaysia companies to engage with Mida and MGCC to venture into the RE space and form collaborations with German companies," he said. He said this initiative would also help Mida achieve the target of securing 11 per cent of RE contributions to energy mix by 2020, against the 0.69 per cent currently. Also present at the symposium Tuesday was the Germany's ambassador to Malaysia, Holger Michael. Within the European Union, Germany is Malaysia's largest investor. In 2015, Malaysia-German bilateral trade amounted to RM43.3 billion. As of August this year, Mida has approved 562 manufacturing projects with German participation and involving investments of RM41.02 billion with over 66,430 jobs created. (US$1 = RM4.46) -- BERNAMA