KUALA LUMPUR (June 14): Malaysia attracted a total of RM42.8 billion in approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors — involving 910 projects — in January to March 2022 (1Q22), according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
However, it was 47% lower compared with the RM80.6 billion achieved in 1Q21.
Sector-wise, manufacturing accounted for the largest share of total approved investments in 1Q22, amounting to RM30 billion (70.1%), followed by services at RM12.7 billion (29.7%) and primary at RM169.5 million (0.2%), according to MIDA’s statement on Tuesday (June 14).
MIDA pointed out that the decline in the manufacturing sector’s approved investments to RM30 billion in 1Q22 from RM59.4 billion in 1Q21 was due to the approval of a mega project in the previous corresponding quarter.
“The approved investment performance in the manufacturing sector in the first quarter of 2020 and 2022 followed a similar pattern if excluding the megaproject, with RM25.9 billion and RM30 billion, respectively,” it added.
The services sector’s approved investments slipped to RM12.7 billion from RM33.1 billion in the same period a year ago. On the bright side, two sub-sectors namely hotel and tourism, and other services jumped 581.7% and 70.4% year-on-year respectively. This was in line with the government's strategy in implementing the domestic travel bubble, which aided the growth of the hotel and tourism industries.
Meanwhile, the primary sector’s investments slumped to RM169.5 million from RM6.2 billion a year prior.
MIDA noted that foreign direct investments (FDI) contributed RM27.8 billion (65%) of total approved investments, while domestic direct investments (DDI) accounted for RM15 billion (35%).
The top five sources of FDIs were Germany (RM8.9 billion), followed by Brunei (RM5.1 billion), the US (RM3.9 billion), Hong Kong (RM3.3 billion) and Japan (RM3.2 billion).
The approved investments for this period will create 24,906 new jobs in the country, according to MIDA.
Five states — Kedah, Penang, Selangor, Sabah and Johor — contributed RM31.8 billion (74.3%) of total investments approved in the various sectors.
Senior Minister and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said Malaysia remains an attractive investment destination for global trade investors with the manufacturing sector positioned as a key pillar of the economy for 2022.
“Today, we are proud to have over 5,000 companies from more than 40 countries that have made Malaysia their location for manufacturing and related services operations,” he added.
Azmin highlighted that Malaysia will continue to focus on high growth and high value-added sectors which offer Malaysians exciting job opportunities.
“Aligning to the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), Malaysia has been securing new investments that position well with the country’s National Investment Aspirations (NIA) and environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
“This will stand us in good stead to capture more economic opportunities. We look forward to seeing more significant growth for the second quarter of 2022,” he said.
As of June 7, 2022, there were 268 projects with proposed investments of RM14.4 billion in the manufacturing and services sectors that are within MIDA’s pipeline.
It has also identified 446 high-profile investment prospects including Fortune 500 companies in the manufacturing and services sectors with a combined potential investment value of RM150.4 billion as of June 1, 2022.