Malaysia Remains an Attractive Investment Destination: Recording Approved Investments of RM53.9 billion in Q1 2019

Malaysia has successfully attracted a total of RM53.9 billion approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors for the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2019), an increase of 3.1% from the same period last year (RM52.3 billion). These investments are from 1,678 projects and are expected to generate more than 41,200 job opportunities for the country. 

The positive investment growth in Q1 2019 was mainly driven by the robust performance of the manufacturing sector that M soared by 126.8% compared to Q1 2018, recording an impressive approved investments of RM25.4 billion. 

The largest portion of approved investments, however, was contributed by the services sector, which garnered 1,445 approved projects with investments worth RM26.1 billion. The bulk of the investments came from domestic sources, which contributed RM18.0 billion or 69% of the total approved investments while the foreign Malaysia Remains an Attractive Investment Destination: Recording Approved Investments of RM53.9 billion in Q1 2019 sources contributed RM8.1 billion or 31%. 

Meanwhile, the primary sector contributed RM2.4 billion or 4.5% to the total approved investments in Q1 2019, with investments in oil and gas exploration activities dominating the approved investments in the sector.Given the challenging uncertainties in the global economy surrounding the USChina trade talks, investors remain confident about Malaysia as an investment destination. This is seen with the increase of foreign investments by 73.4% to RM29.3 billion from RM16.9 billion in the first quarter of 2018. Domestic investments raked in RM24.6 billion, contributing 45.6% to the total. 

The manufacturing sector successfully attracted RM20.2 billion in foreign investments from January to March 2019, which is 127.0% from the corresponding period last year. The commendable increase reflects Malaysia’s continuous competitiveness as a location of choice for investments.

As identified under the 11th Malaysia Plan, the targeted 3+2 catalytic and high potential growth sub-sectors namely the electrical and electronics (E&E), chemical and chemical products, machinery and equipment, medical devices, and aerospace continue to be the focus of industries developed in Malaysia, contributing 66.1% (RM16.8 billion) to the total approved investments in the manufacturing sector. The E&E industry contributed 92.8% of total investment approved in the 3+2 sectors for the first three months of 2019. 

Once implemented, these approved projects are expected to generate strong multiplier effects, which include the growth of domestic companies or engineering supporting industries, cluster development, local sourcing, strengthening of R&D activities and human capital development. 

Among the five investing countries are the USA (RM11.5 billion), China (RM4.4 billion), Singapore (RM2.2 billion), Japan (RM0.6 billion), and the British Virgin Islands (RM0.5 billion). June 2019 | 2 These countries accounted for 95.0% of the total approved foreign investments in the manufacturing sector for Q1 2019. 

Following the encouraging numbers of approved investments in Q1 2019, MITI and its agencies particularly MIDA, will continue to assume a strong role in attracting more quality investments as well as facilitating the implementation of approved projects. As to date, MIDA has 471 projects in the pipeline with investments worth RM30.4 billion for the manufacturing and services sectors.