Malaysia attracts 28.4 bln USD approved investment in H1

Malaysia has attracted a total of 132.6 billion ringgit (28.4 billion U.S. dollars) worth of approved investments in the services, manufacturing, and primary sectors from January to June 2023, its government said on Sunday.

The investment involving 2,651 projects is expected to create 51,853 job opportunities in the country, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said in a statement.

According to MIDA, the domestic direct investment accounted for a substantial 52.2 percent, or 69.3 billion ringgit, of the total approved investments, a commendable 58.2 percent increase year-on-year.

Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) contributed 47.8 percent, or 63.3 billion ringgit, of the total investment.

The services sector led the way in terms of investment approvals in Malaysia in the first half with a total of 82.4 billion ringgit approved, accounting for 62.1 percent of the total.

The manufacturing sector attracted a total of 44.9 billion ringgit, accounting for 33.9 percent, and the primary sector secured 5.3 billion ringgit, constituting 4 percent of the total across sectors.

The top five sources of FDI were Singapore, Japan, the Netherlands, China, and the British Virgin Islands. (1 ringgit equals 0.21 U.S. dollar)