Malaysia stands at forefront to attract FDI amid COVID-19
19 Oct 2020
Malaysia stands to benefit from the potential inflows of investments as multinational companies (MNCs) were accelerating their decisions to optimise their business models and seek “high-value, high-impact” central operating models in strategic locations.
According to Ernst and Young (EY) latest investor guide, “KL calling: dynamic, digital, diverse”, Kuala Lumpur is gaining global investors’ attention as a preferred principal location to grow their business in the region and globally.
EY Asean consulting leader and Malaysia consulting managing partner Chow Sang Hoe said the Covid-19 pandemic is fast-tracking the pace of MNCs’ decisions to restructure their supply chains, diversify their supply sources and find local and ASEAN near-market manufacturing base to manage uncertainties and disruptions.
“Kuala Lumpur’s highly competitive position has elevated it to be a prime and natural choice.” EY and InvestKL said in a joint-statement today.
InvestKL chief executive officer Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli said that despite the pandemic, the agency remained in active discussions with potential investors and are well on track to achieve its key performance indicator of attracting 100 MNCs by year-end.
“Although some investors are taking a wait-and-see approach, others remain committed to their investments as they hold a long-term view.
“Many MNCs are already shifting their decisions towards Kuala Lumpur and we are in talks with MNCs from the high-value services, technology and digital sectors who have expressed interest to expand their capacity or set up their regional headquarters here in Kuala Lumpur,” he added.
Ranked 12th in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020, Malaysia’s total approved foreign direct invesment in 2019 amounted to RM82.4 billion.
In 2019, InvestKL assisted over 90 MNCs who were keen to explore the establishment of operations in Greater KL.
With Malaysia‘s digital economy growing double-digit to nearly US$64 billion (RM268 billion) in 2020, the number of MNCs looking to Kuala Lumpur as part of their expansion plans is expected to grow in tandem.
Source: Bernama
