MIDA-approved FDI at RM392.9b for 2018-2021, says deputy minister

MIDA-approved FDI at RM392.9b for 2018-2021, says deputy minister

14 Feb 2023

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) approved total foreign direct investment (FDI) of RM392.9 billion between 2018 and 2021, of which RM300.5 billion or 76.5% had been realised as at end-2021. 

“The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) will not just focus on increasing the value of approved FDI, but also intensify the strategy to realise FDI, which will translate into economic activities that deliver positive impact on the country,” said Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong in the Dewan Rakyat on Tuesday (Feb 14). 

Liew was responding to Titiwangsa Member of Parliament Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, who asked MITI to state the amount of FDI realised each year versus the amount of investment approved by MIDA for 2018 to 2022. 

Of the total FDI approved between 2018 and 2021, RM350.6 billion were under the manufacturing sector, followed by RM42.3 billion under the services sector, said the Iskandar Puteri MP. 

The DAP lawmaker also said the main FDI projects realised under the manufacturing sector were within the electrical and electronic industries, while the major drivers for realising FDI in the services sector in 2018-2021 were sub-sectors like the establishment of principal hubs, support services and healthcare services. 

“Normally, execution of these projects takes one-to-two years to be realised depending on the project’s scale and the ongoing economic situation,” he said, adding that the official data for approved FDI in 2022 will only be finalised by end-March this year. 

Liew also listed some of the high-profile projects approved below: 

Projects in January-September 2022:

1. Samsung SDI Energy Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s establishment of an electric vehicle battery cell manufacturing facility in Malaysia, with a combined investment of RM7 billion in two phases, where the first phase involves RM1 billion investment, followed by the remaining RM6 billion in the second phase.   
2. TF-AMD Microelectronics Sdn Bhd announced plans to expand its manufacturing facilities at the Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang, with capital expenditure of almost RM2 billion, expecting to create over 3,000 jobs in fields like semiconductor engineering, design and technology processes for high-performance computing solutions. 
3. Ferrotec Holdings Corp announced an investment of over RM500 million for the construction of new manufacturing facilities in the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Kedah, for electro-mechanical assembly work and fabrication of advanced materials for semiconductor equipment. 
4. Smart Glove Holdings Bhd, which produces various types of medical gloves from nitrile, natural rubber, polychloroprene and other synthetic rubber, expanded its production capacity with investment amounting to RM2 billion.

Projects in 2021: 

1. Risen Solar with RM42.2 billion investment for design development activities and manufacturing of solar modules and cells. 
2. RM30 billion investment approved for Intel Electronics. 
3. RM8.5 billion investment approved for AT&S, an Austrian company, for design development and manufacturing of integrated circuit substrate at the Kulim Hi-Tech Park, Kedah. 
4. SK Nexilis announced its first overseas production base in Sabah, with approved investment of RM4.29 billion. 
5. Infineon Technologies (Malaysia)’s RM3.25 billion investment in Melaka.
6. Taiyo Yuden’s RM680 million investment for production of multilayer ceramic capacitors in Sarawak.

Source: The Edge Markets