KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Feb 2009: The manufacturing sector in Malaysia remained a competitive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows last year, International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.
Investments in the sector in 2008 were the highest recorded to-date and more than doubled the targeted RM27.5 billion per annum set in the third Industrial Manufacturing Plan.
Approvals in the manufacturing sector amounted to RM62.8 billion in 2008 compared with RM59.9 billion in 2007, he said at a media conference here.
For 2008, the significant increase in investments was due to the approval of several capital-intensive projects particularly in the basic metal products, electrical and electronic, petrol chemicals and transport equipment industries.
A total of 12 projects with total investments of RM1 billion and above were approved, with investments of RM38.3 billion or 61% of total approved investments for last year.
Projects involving foreign investments formed the lion’s share of the total investment in 2008.
Foreign investments amounted to RM46.1 billion or 73.4% of total investments approved, he said.
FDI inflows into the sector were also the highest recorded to-date last year and marked the fifth consecutive year of increase in foreign investments compared with RM33.4 billion in 2007, RM20.2 billion in 2006, RM17.9 billion in 2005 and RM13.1 billion in 2004. — Bernama
