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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded RM164bil in approved investments through 4,599 projects in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in 2020 with China the top investor, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority's (MIDA) data.

Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said these investments are expected to create 114,673 new jobs in various sectors of the economy once implemented.

However, the investments were lower in contrast with 2019 where 5,287 projects with investments of RM211.4bil were approved as the services and primary sectors were directly impacted by declines in global demands due to the pandemic and the Movement Control Order (MCO) implementation.

The manufacturing sector recorded the highest amount of investments in 2020 and China was the top foreign investor in the manufacturing sector.

According to MITI, in 2020, domestic direct investments (DDI) accounted for the bulk of the total approved investments and accounted for 60.9% (RM99.8bil), while foreign direct investments (FDI) made up the remaining RM64.2bil (39.1%).

The manufacturing sector led the way for total investments approved in 2020, recording RM91.3bil, followed by the services sector RM66.7bil and the primary sector with RM6bil.

China at RM18.1bil was the top FDI source followed by Singapore (RM10bil) and the Netherlands (RM7bil) and they accounted for more than half (54.8%) of the total approved FDI for the year.

In terms of location, MITI said Selangor (RM38.7bil) recorded the highest investments approved last year, followed by Sabah (RM21bil), Sarawak (RM19.6bil), Kuala Lumpur (RM17.1bil) and Penang (RM16bil). These five states alone contributed more than 60% of the total approved investments for 2020.

MITI said Malaysia’s manufacturing sector recorded approved investments of RM91.3bil for 2020, up by 10.3% from 2019.

In 2020, the number of manufacturing projects approved also increased by 6.2% from 988 projects in 2019 to 1,049 projects in 2020.

“When implemented, these approved manufacturing projects will create new jobs for more

than 80,000 people. Of these, 35.8% are in the managerial, technical and supervisory (MTS) positions, including engineers, plant maintenance supervisors, tools and die makers, machinists, IT personnel, quality controllers, electricians and welders.

“FDI accounted for 62% (RM56.6bil) of total approved investments in the manufacturing sector, while domestic investments constituted the remaining 38% (RM34.7bi).

“It is important to note that despite the challenging times, DDI surged by 22.6% while FDI increased by 3.9% compared to 2019, ” it said.

MITI also pointed out China was the top investor in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia, contributing RM17.8bil of total foreign investments approved in the sector. China was also the largest source of foreign investments in the manufacturing sector for five consecutive years.

Other major sources of FDI include Singapore (RM8.8bil), the Netherlands (RM6.5bil), the US (RM3.7bil), Hong Kong (RM2.9bil), Switzerland (RM2.8bil), Thailand (RM1.9bil), Japan (RM1.7bil) and South Korea (RM1.4bil).

Selangor at RM18.4bil was the largest recipient of investments in the manufacturing sector for 2020, followed by Sarawak (RM15.7bil), Penang (RM14.1bil), Sabah (RM12bil) and Johor (RM6.8bil). These five states constituted 73.4% of total approved investments in the sector last year.

Source: https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2021/03/02/mida-malaysia-records-rm164b-investments-china-top-investor