by S BIRRUNTHA / pic by TMR

MALAYSIA registered RM149 billion of total approved investments mainly in the areas of services, manufacturing and primary sectors for the first nine months of 2019 (9M19), said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking (picture).

In a statement last Friday, he said Malaysia has become more selective in its investment agenda, attracting quality investments in targeted ecosystems which are projected to have significant knock-on effects throughout the domestic economy.

“This is 4.4% higher than the RM142.6 billion approved in the same period last year.

“These investments involved 4,025 projects and will create an additional 93,841 job opportunities,” he added.

According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), the majority of the investments came from domestic sources, which contributed RM82.7 billion or 55.5% of the total investments, while foreign direct investments (FDIs) recorded 44.5% or RM66.3 billion.

The total approved FDIs in the three main sectors increased by 6.5% to RM66.3 billion between January and September this year from RM62.2 billion compared to the same period last year.

In terms of the services sector alone, it attracted RM85 billion in 3,299 approved projects compared to RM74.9 billion in 2,931 projects recorded in the corresponding period last year.

Mida said these projects are poised to generate over 38,800 employment opportunities.

Of the total, 72% or RM61.2 billion were from domestic sources and the balance 28% or RM23.8 billion were foreign investments.

Foreign investments in the sector recorded a significant jump of 160.2% during this period.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector posted a total of 671 manufacturing projects worth RM57.7 billion in the 9M19 compared to 467 projects with investments of RM57.5 billion a year ago.

Domestic investments recorded RM18.5 billion or 32.1%, a rise of 81.7% from RM10.2 billion in the same period last year, while foreign investments contributed RM39.2 billion or 67.9% of total approved investments in the manufacturing sector.

The approved manufacturing projects, through the approved investment, are expected to create over 54,000 job opportunities for the country.

For the primary sector, it was noted that it contributed RM6.3 billion or 4.2% of the total approved investments from January to September 2019.

The mining subsector continued to lead with approved investments of RM5.9 billion, followed by plantation and commodities with RM275.2 million, and agriculture with RM135.1 million.

Foreign investments dominated the approved investments for the sector, totalling RM3.3 billion, while domestic sources contributed RM3 billion.

Darrel said despite the ongoing trade tensions pointing to slower growth, the country will stick to the course and continue attracting strategic partners to invest in Malaysia.

“Malaysia is true to its ambition to become a preferred investment destination for innovation-based and knowledge intensive investments within high-growth and high-value sectors.

“This will generate more spillover impact on the economy through the growth of the local supply chain ecosystems and improvement of the Malaysian workforce,” he said.

As of September 2019, Mida negotiated 682 projects with proposed investments of RM37.6 billion.

These include 242 projects within the manufacturing sector, amounting to RM26.6 billion, and 440 projects in the services sector, amounting to RM11 billion.