ISKANDAR PUTERI — Johor recorded RM31 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) last year with the majority driven by the service sector.

State Investment, Trade, Consumer Affairs and Human Resources Committee chairman Lee Ting Han (picture) said the service sector contributed RM21.56 billion to FDI while the manufacturing sector contributed RM9.43 billion.

“The main sources of foreign investment (for the service sector) are Singapore, China and South Korea,” he said when answering an oral question from Hahasrin Hashim (BN-Panti) about new investments from within and outside the country in Johor from 2023 to now at the 3rd sitting of the 15th Johor State Legislative Assembly at Bangunan Sultan Ismail here today.

He said for the manufacturing sector, the main sources of foreign investment are Singapore, Taiwan and the United States.

Lee said the state also managed to record RM12.05 billion in direct domestic investment last year with the service sector contributing RM6.86 billion and the manufacturing sector RM5.18 billion.

“Information and communication technology (ICT) services which include data centres, cloud sharing services, software and system design as well as creative and digital content are the main contributing sub-sectors for the service sector,” he said.

For the manufacturing sector, he said the main sub-sectors for 2023 are electrical and electronics, machinery and equipment as well as chemicals and chemical products.

He said a total of 751 investment projects were approved last year which created 19,053 job opportunities.

He added that the state government is also optimistic about the development of the investment sector and expects a better performance compared to 2023. — BERNAMA