KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 30): Malaysia saw a slow-down in foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in 2014, mirroring the experience of the rest of the globe.

It recorded a net inflow of RM35.3 billion last year, down 7.6% from RM38.2 billion in 2013. This was mainly generated from equity and investment fund shares, which accounted for 85.8% or RM30.3 billion of the total net inflows, followed by debt instruments at 14.2% or RM5 billion.

According to the 2015 World Investment Report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development that was released in June, global foreign direct investment slowed by 16% to US$1.23 trillion in 2014.

In a statement today, the Department of Statistics said the top five investing countries for inflows in 2014 came from Singapore, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Cayman Islands and Bermuda.

"These countries recorded a total of RM22.4 billion or 63.4% of the total inflows in Malaysia," it said.

Sector-wise, the services sector was the largest recipient of FDI last year at 46.6%, followed by the mining and quarrying sector (36%) and manufacturing sector (13.2%).

The Department of Statistics also noted the country's FDI position stood at RM467.5 billion at the end of 2014, compared with RM446.4 billion at end-2013. Income posted was RM62.6 billion in 2014, up 10% from RM56.9 billion in 2013.

As for position, the value of equity and investment fund shares rose 3.6% to RM429.2 billion, from RM414.1 billion. Debt instruments also attained a higher position of RM38.4 billion, from RM32.3 billion in 2013.

"With regard to position as at end-2014, FDI investment was mainly originated from Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, the United States (US) and Norway, which amounted to RM257.7 billion or 55.1% of total position in Malaysia," it added.

The FDI position were channelled mainly in services sector (45.6%), manufacturing sector (43.7%) and mining and quarrying sector (7.7%).

With regards to income, income on equity and investment fund shares recorded a value of RM62.1 billion (99.3%) and interest of RM500 million (0.7%). The manufacturing sector generated the highest earnings (44.1%) in 2014. This was followed by the services sector (38.7%) and the mining and quarrying sector (14.7%).

The US, Singapore, the Netherlands, Japan and Bermuda were also the top earners in 2014, recording a combined RM39 billion or 62.3% of total income in Malaysia.