KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) urged the country to seize the window of opportunity from the US-China trade war to attract more investors.

ACCCIM president Tan Sri Ter Leong Yap said the association has received many enquiries, particularly from China-based companies, showing interest in investing in Malaysia as the trade tension escalates.

Leong noted that Chinese investors hope to see improvement on the lengthy process for approving investment and lack of industrial parks in Malaysia.

He welcomes the Government’s move to establish the National Committee Investment (NCI) to overcome delays in approving foreign and domestic investments.

He is also confident that NCI, which is jointly chaired by the Minister of Finance and the Minister of International Trade and Industry, will expedite the investment process in the future.

For the first half of this year, approved foreign direct investment (FDI) increased by 97% to RM49.5 billion from RM25.1 billion in the same period last year.

The approved manufacturing FDI from the US was the highest at RM11.7 billion, followed by China at RM4.8 billion.

In 2018, the approved manufacturing investment from China beat the US, registering RM19.7 billion, leaping 405% or RM15.8 billion from RM3.9 billion in 2017.

At the same time, approved manufacturing investment from the US grew about 190% or RM2.1 billion from RM1.1 billion in 2017 to RM3.2 billion in 2018.