Of the total investments approved, RM26.3b was contributed by DDI, while RM11.1b came from FDI

by HARIZAH KAMEL/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

A TOTAL of RM37.4 billion worth of investments have been approved in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in the first quarter of this year (1Q20).

Of the total investments approved, RM26.3 billion or 70.4% was contributed by direct domestic investment (DDI), while RM11.1 billion or 29.6% came from foreign direct investment (FDI).

Switzerland (RM2.7 billion), Singapore (RM2.1 billion), the US (RM2 billion), China (RM1.4 billion) and Japan (RM900 million) were the top five sources of FDI for the manufacturing, services and primary sectors during the period.

International Trade and Industry Senior Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali (picture) said Malaysia has a strong presence of high-quality local suppliers and businesses in its industrial ecosystem.

“Coupled with the many other value propositions, we trust Malaysia will continue to be an attractive location for global companies,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Azmin said Covid-19 and its bearing have caused investors to reconsider their business strategies and postpone investment decisions.

“We may not be able to reach the pre-Covid-19 crisis level of investments this year. However, we will not stop being aggressive in our promotional efforts to retain and attract more foreign and domestic investments to revive the economy,” he added.

The manufacturing sector was the largest contributor to the value of approved investments in 1Q20 amounting to RM25.2 billion, followed by the services sector (RM11.9 billion) and the primary sector (RM300 million).

The investments involved 892 projects and will create over 19,100 jobs for the country. For approved projects by state, Sabah, Penang, Selangor, Johor and Kuala Lumpur, contributed RM30 billion (80.1%) to the total approved investments for January to March 2020.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) approved a total of 214 manufacturing projects in the first three months of 2020 compared to 216 projects in the corresponding period last year.

FDI in the manufacturing sector amounted to RM10.6 billion, while DDI totalled RM14.6 billion, an increase of 180.8% from RM5.2 billion in 1Q19.

Capital-intensive projects continue to dominate the approved investments for the manufacturing sector with 23 projects totalling at least RM100 million or 86.5% of approved investments in the sector.

Additionally, the services sector contributed 75% to the total approved projects in 1Q20. Of the total, DDI represented 97.5% or RM11.6 billion, while FDI accounted for 2.5% or RM0.3 billion. Most of the main services subsectors showed a significant decline in investments except for support services, financial services and global establishments.

Meanwhile, approved investments in the primary sector amounted to RM281.3 million in various economic sectors comprising mining, plantation and commodities and agriculture subsectors.

As of June this year, Mida has a total of 726 projects with proposed investments of RM36.7 billion in the pipeline for the manufacturing, services and primary sectors.

“Nonetheless, the year 2020 will be a challenging one to all economies, including Malaysia. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development forecast that global FDI flows would decline by up to 40% in 2020, from the 2019 value of US$1.54 trillion (RM6.58 trillion),” it added.