Malaysia Records Highest Approved Investments of RM306.5 Billion in 2021

Malaysia boasted stellar investment performance for the year 2021, attracting record-breaking approved investments worth RM306.5 billion in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors. The nation remained an attractive investment destination for global and regional business expansions as total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Domestic Direct Investment (DDI) numbers exceeded expectations, increasing to 83.1 per cent from the achievement attained in 2020.

The manufacturing sector led the total investments approved in 2021 by recording RM195.1 billion, followed by the services sector and the primary sector at RM94.1 billion and RM17.3 billion respectively.

Malaysia’s FDI of RM208.6 billion accounted for 68.1 per cent of total approved investments, with the remaining 31.9 per cent coming from DDI at RM97.9 billion.

The Netherlands (RM78 billion), Singapore (RM47.3 billion), the People’s Republic of China (RM31.3 billion), Austria (RM18.9 billion) and Japan (RM9.9 billion) accounted for 88.9 per cent of total FDI approved in the various sectors.

Pulau Pinang (RM83.5 billion) recorded the highest investments approved last year, followed by Kedah (RM68.3 billion),Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (RM37.7 billion), Selangor (RM28.8 billion) and Sarawak (RM25.7 billion). These five (5) states contributed 79.6 per cent of total approved investments in 2021.

Malaysia’s RM97.9 billion DDI in 2021 is a signal that local industry players had grown in terms of capabilities and business capacity to be competitive on the global stage.

The announcement was made by YB. Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali, Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) at theMalaysian Investment Development Authority’s flagship Annual Media Conference (AMC) 2022 which includes the launching of the Malaysia Investment Performance Report 2021. Also present to witness the launching along the Senior Minister were YB. Senator Datuk Lim Ban Hong, Deputy Minister of MITI and YBhg. Datuk Arham Abdul Rahman, Chief Executive Officer of MIDA.

Notably, this year’s AMC 2022 theme was Powering Resilience, which is very relevant as Malaysia continues to navigate through the ongoing pandemic and is powered through various measures, strategic collaborations and agile policies that are put in place to enhance the resilience of the Malaysian economy. For the first time, the event was held in hybrid format and was broadcasted live from MIDA Sentral taking into account COVID-19 mitigation measures.

YB. Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali in his speech shared, “Economic recovery is neither static nor absolute. Malaysia’s robust business ecosystem has enabled us to secure strategic investments and forge new trade relationships, placing us on a positive trajectory to propel our economy to greater heights as well as expedite efforts towards inclusive socio-economic growth. The easing of pandemic containment measures has allowed for the resumption of economic activities coupled with high vaccination rates among diverse industries and professionals. Further efforts were put in place to ensure that the business ecosystem remains responsive to global trends with policies and initiatives for business facilitation, talent upskilling and reskilling, 

digitalisation and automation. In a nutshell, these measures have successfully placed our economy on a firm and resilient footing towards the path of vibrant growth and sustainable recovery.”

Malaysia’s manufacturing sector secured projects worth RM195.1 billion in 2021, compared to the RM91.3 billion it gained in 2020, a major increase of 113.7 per cent. The electrical and electronics (E&E) industry received the most approved investments worth RM148 billion. Noteworthy is Malaysia has secured 75 capital intensive projects valued at RM100 million and above each, spurring the growth of new advanced manufacturing technologies and produce a highly-skilled workforce.

Meanwhile, the services sector attracted RM94.1 billion from 3,803 approved projects. The sector’s 34.4 per cent improvement in 2021 was driven by sub-sectors such as real estate (RM28.8 billion), global establishments (RM19.7 billion), financial services (RM12 billion), utilities (RM9.6 billion), and information and communications (RM8.2 billion).

DDI accounted for RM69.2 billion in 2021 compared to RM63.5 billion in 2020 for the sector. This performance underscores the inherent strength of Malaysia’s services companies that could be leveraged further for export of services.

YB. Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali iterated, “Through the innovation of Internet of Things, Artificial intelligence and the cloud network, the services sector has been redefined, having gained recognition as a major growth sector for the global economy. The Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MyDIGITAL) was formulated to drive the national transformation in line with the evolution of the global investment landscape towards digitalisation and Industry 4.0, creating unique and interesting value propositions for digital projects.”

The mining industry witnessed approved investments worth RM17.1 billion, representing 98.7 per cent of the overall total investments in the primary sector driven by higher prices for crude oil and natural gas. The rest of the primary sector investments comprises the plantation and commodities and the agriculture sub sectors with investment values of RM211.4 million and RM20.5 million, respectively.

Looking ahead, Malaysia will continue to move forward, strengthening resilience through strong policies that would further enhance the positive trajectory. “The National Investment Aspirations (NIA) is poised to attract high impact investments in new growth areas which bring about bountiful spillover effects to the economy. On that note, the New Industrial Masterplan 2022-2033 will also further propel the local industries to accelerate digitalisation efforts and fully realise the benefits of transition into Industry 4.0,” said YB. Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.

As of December 2021, MIDA has identified 352 high-profile foreign investment projects, including Fortune 500 companies in the manufacturing and services sectors, with a combined potential investment value of RM39.2 billion within the agency’s purview. These projects will create more than 19,000 new job opportunities for Malaysia.

All relevant information and materials on AMC 2022 and the Malaysia Investment Performance Report 2021 can be obtained on the event virtual platform at AMC2022.mida.gov.my. This virtual site will be available until 8 April 2022, after which the information and material will be available on www.mida.gov.my.

Newsletter February 2022