KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia recorded a total of RM37.4 billion worth of approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in the first quarter (Q1) of 2020, said the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) in a statement today.
Of the total investments approved, RM26.3 billion or 70.4% was contributed by domestic investments (DDI) while RM11.1 billion or 29.6% came from foreign sources (FDI). Switzerland (RM2.7 billion), Singapore (RM2.1 billion), the United States of America (RM2.0 billion), China (RM1.4 billion) and Japan (RM0.9 billion) were the top five sources of FDI for the manufacturing, services and primary sectors during the period.
MIDA noted that the manufacturing sector was the largest contributor to the value of approved investments in 1Q 2020 amounting to RM25.2 billion, followed by the services sector (RM11.9 billion) and the primary sector (RM0.3 billion). These investments involved 892 projects and will create over 19,100 jobs for the country.
For approved projects by state, the five major states namely Sabah, Penang, Selangor, Johor and W.P. Kuala Lumpur, contributed RM30.0 billion (80.1%) to the total approved investments for January to March 2020, it said.
“Malaysia continues to attract investors and is poise to be a global supply chain hub in Asia. We have a strong presence of high-quality local suppliers and businesses in our industrial ecosystem. Coupled with the many other value propositions, we trust that Malaysia will continue to be an attractive location for global companies to incorporate diversity and flexibility into their supply chains,” said Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry.
Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin said COVID-19 and its bearing have caused investors to reconsider their business strategies and postpone investment decisions.
“While every crisis comes with profound challenges, these are also moments of great opportunities to shift gears and set sights on greener pastures. We may not be able to reach the pre-COVID-19 crisis level of investments this year. However, we will not stop to be aggressive in our promotional efforts to retain and attract more foreign and domestic investments to revive the economy.”
MIDA has a total of 726 projects with proposed investments of RM36.7 billion in the pipeline as of June 2020 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 (UNCTAD) forecast that the global FDI flows would decline by up to 40% in 2020, from the 2019 value of $1.54 trillion,” MIDA concluded.
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