GEORGE TOWN (Feb 28): Penang moved up one notch to the third spot with the highest number of approved investments in the country last year, after Johor and Sarawak.

Penang approved local and foreign investments totalling RM8.2 billion in 2014, a 109% jump from the previous year.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state approved foreign investments amounting to RM5.1 billion and RM3.04 billion in  domestic investments last year.

“In 2013, our total proposed capital investment was RM3.9 billion and we were ranked No. 4," he told a news conference to announce the investment figures released by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) yesterday.

“This (2014) is good results, although it is more important that we receive quality investments.

"It should not be typical industries but those that can add value, be high-tech and are knowledge intensive,” Lim said.

He added that the investments in Penang were widely distributed between local and foreign businesses compared with Sarawak, which had a higher foreign investments of RM8.4 billion as a result of oil and gas projects.

According to the Mida statistics, Johor topped the country’s total approved projects with proposed capital investments of RM21.1 billion. This was followed by Sarawak with RM9.6 billion.

On Thursday, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohammad announced that Malaysia recorded the highest approved investments of RM235.9 billion in recent years.

Mustapa pointed out that private investments worth RM148 billion surpassed the RM181.45 billion average annual benchmark that was set under the 10th Malaysia Plan by RM33.45 billion.

On Jan 28, investPenang director Datuk Lee Kah Choon had revealed that four foreign investments with a combined fund of RM5 billion in the manufacturing sector were approved by Penang for this year.

He added that as a result of continued foreign direct investments in the state, Penang would be cushioned by the slowing global economic impact.

Lee said the investments particularly in the services sectors would expand on the back of a slowly shrinking manufacturing sector before the latter stabilises in the next few years.

The state is expecting more global shared-services such as Citigroup Transaction Services Malaysia, Wilmar International Ltd, Air Asia Berhad, First Solar Global Service and IHS Inc to locate here, he said.

Last year, the state’s investment arm Penang Development Corp partnered its Singapore counterpart Temasek Holdings Ltd to spur investments into "knowledge-based innovation-led manufacturing services".