JAN-SEPT FDI JUMPS TO US$5.5 BLN

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 (Bernama) -- Foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Malaysia
leaped to RM17.1 billion (US$5.5) for the period from January to September 2010
compared to just RM5 billion (US$1.59 billion) recorded for the whole of last
year, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said Saturday.

"We hope to achieve at least RM20 billion in FDIs by end of the year. It is hard
to estimate but we hope the momentum can sustain for the rest of the year," he
said after delivering a keynote address at the annual Young Corporate Malaysians
Summit here.(US$1=RM3.13)

He said the amount was a clear reflection of increase in confidence in the
Malaysian economy.

"The various initiatives taken by the government to transform the economy have
gone down well with the investor community and money is coming back into the
country.

"Malaysia recorded a higher net inflow of RM6.2 billion for the third quarter of
2010, compared with RM5.1 billion and RM5.9 billion recorded in the first and
second quarter respectively.

"The investments in the third quarter were mainly in the finance and insurance,
manufacturing and oil and gas sectors," he said, dismissing suggestions that the
81 per cent drop in FDI last year was due to the government's poor governance.

Mustapa said the government would promote Malaysia more aggressively as more and
more foreigners were interested to invest in the country.

"As the growth in Asean picks up, it would provide a lot of opportunities in the
region in terms of trade, business and tourism," he said.

He said many Malaysian companies had also begin to venture into opportunites
around the region and were benefitting from the process of trade with the flow
of people and connectivity generated.

"As these countries grow, we believe investments within Asean are going to play
a major role in Asean moving forward," he said.

On bilateral ties between Malaysia and South Korea, he said the relevant parties
would begin discussions soon on a possible free trade agreement (FTA).

"We are supportive of the FTA, and there is no timeline yet for the
discussions but some initial scoping exercise and basic work needs to be done first
before we move on to something concrete," he said.
-- BERNAMA