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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia remains the investment destination for high-value manufacturing and global services in Asia, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) said today.
Mida described a recent report by Singapore’s The Straits Times newspaper on foreign investors fleeing Malaysia as “incorrect.”
The agency said that “the piece falsely indicates that the report by the United Nations Trade and Development Commission confirmed what has been anecdotally spoken.”
Mida said that Malaysia continues to be an attractive investment destination with a favorable environment that includes the availability of excellent infrastructure, telecommunications services, financial and banking services, supporting industries, skills and trained workforce, as well as market opportunities offered to through the 16 free trade agreements it has signed. .
Mida stated that it has identified 240 high-profile foreign investment projects, including Fortune 500 companies in the manufacturing and services sectors, with a combined potential investment value of RM81.9 billion.
“Currently, Mida has also received potential investments of RM 47.7 billion in the country. These projects, once approved, are expected to be implemented within the year 2021 to 2022, ”he said.
Citing statistics from the Department of Statistics, Mida said that total gross foreign direct investment in Malaysia from January to September last year was RM 108.2 billion compared to RM 102.3 billion in 2019, an increase of 5.8%.
“This is a considerable achievement given the motion control order (MCO) and recovery MCO in the second and third quarters of last year, respectively,” Mida said.
Mida said that the total FDI approved from 2018 to September 2020 was valued at RM206.02 billion.
By 2020, nine foreign-owned manufacturing companies with a total investment of RM394.3 million in Malaysia had implemented business rationalization measures.
“These companies have either closed their business operations in Malaysia or moved to other countries due to technology disruption that transformed their business landscape and reduced demand for their products.
“This investment is a fraction of the total investment approved in the economy for the period from January to September 2020,” he said.
