KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): InvestKL has attracted RM1.68 billion worth of investments in the first half of 2022 (1H22) which created 1,919 high-skilled executive job opportunities, the agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) said.

In a statement on Wednesday (July 27), it said that its business hub Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) has led the establishment of six multinational corporations (MNCs) from the United States, United Kingdom, China, and Australia, covering various industries such as food, technology, software development and pharmaceuticals.

InvestKL chief executive officer Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli said the agency will continue to secure more investments by taking advantage of new opportunities available from the free trade agreements Malaysia has become a part of.

“The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) just came into force earlier this year, while Malaysia is aiming to ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in 2022.

“These major trade deals hold excellent promise as they will make Malaysia more attractive for companies seeking to diversify their supply chains and widen market access for goods and services as well as digital products,” Azmi said.

InvestKL said the GKL Live Lab programme launched in April 2021, aimed at strengthening Greater KL as an innovation and ideation smart city, has signed up two companies out of three targeted for 2022.

The programme has also secured key projects covering edutech, healthtech, dronetech, data solutions and marketingtech, it added.

Moving forward, Azmi said Malaysia needs to nurture more professionals such as big data engineers, cybersecurity experts and accountants to meet growing investors’ demand.

He believes this will support the country’s objective in attracting high-value, high-technology and high-growth companies, in line with the National Investment Aspiration (NIA) aimed at balancing economic development with environmental sustainability.

Besides that, he stated that greater emphasis must be given to the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda to further enhance the readiness of the country’s ecosystem and infrastructure in embracing sustainable development.

“We must keep ourselves at the forefront of ESG while capturing emerging opportunities in the shift towards a greener planet. Renewable energy offers huge potential, and Malaysia needs to accelerate on this front to remain competitive,” Azmi said.