KUALA LUMPUR: The RM225 billion of investments approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) for the January-September period this year, represent one of Malaysia’s best achievements over the past decade, according to Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The MITI minister said this is a testament to Malaysia’s continued attractiveness as an investment destination and investors’ confidence towards Malaysia as an investment destination.
“The proportions of foreign direct investment (FDI) and domestic direct investment (DDI) are nearly the same, with FDI at 56 per cent and DDI 44 per cent of total investment for the first nine months of the year,” he told a media conference to announce MITI’s Report Card 2023 — A Year of Madani Government today.
Meanwhile, RM347 billion of committed investments have been secured during investment missions this year to China (RM170 billion), the United States (US-APEC meeting; RM63 billion), Abu Dhabi (RM40.6 billion), South Korea (RM24 billion), Japan (RM23.1 billion), Singapore (RM13 billion), Brunei (RM5 billion), US-United Nations General Assembly; RM4.74 billion), Italy (RM3.3 billion), Indonesia (RM300 million), and Vietnam (RM5 million).
Tengku Zafrul noted the inflow of investments from countries such as the Netherlands, Singapore, the US, China, and Japan reflects the type of high-tech strategic investments that Malaysia is targeting from global players.
“MITI and its agency, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, will continue to position Malaysia as a highly viable and stable destination to attract more investment inflows strategically as a result of the redesign of the supply chain in the global investment landscape, in line with industrial transformation as set out in the New Industrial Master Plan 2030,” he said.
He also said that the Malaysia International Halal Showcase 2023 recorded one of the proudest achievements during the first nine months which amounted to RM3.11 billion in sales value, up 24 per cent compared to the target of RM2.5 billion, with 44 exhibiting countries during the tradeshow.
Meanwhile, export commitments from the 2023 trade mission registered a total of RM13.39 billion, including South Korea (RM2.7 billion), China (Beijing; RM2.6 billion), China (Nanning; RM3.2 billion), Hong Kong (RM780 million), Japan (RM2.1 billion), as well as the US (RM2.1 billion).
Additionally, he said, MITI is currently putting in efforts to enter other new markets such as Ecuador, Nigeria, Tanzania, Puerto Rico, and Kyrgyzstan to expand the country’s export market.
Elaborating on the priorities for 2024, Tengku Zafrul said MITI will focus on expediting the investment process and achieving the digital economy investment target of RM130 billion by 2025.
“Besides that, focus is also given to completing the rationalisation of the investment promotion agencies next year,“ he said.
In terms of trade, he said MITI is targeting a five per cent growth for 2024 in tandem with the World Trade Organisation’s forecast which shows a rather challenging trend.
“We also want to open new markets including in the Middle East, Africa and South America,“ he said.
He added that MITI will also refine and improve several relevant free trade agreements with several parties, especially in the digital and green technology sectors. – Bernama
