Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, said for the first five months of this year, the sector attracted RM41.7 billion in investments, an increase of 100 per cent from the same period last year.
“This will help create 34,000 high-skilled jobs,” he told reporters after announcing the investment performance of the manufacturing and related service sectors for January till May 2014, here today.
Mustapa said most of the jobs created would be in the electrical and electronic, chemical and chemical products, basic metal products and scientific and measuring equipment sub-sectors.
He said during this period, about 196 projects (60.4 per cent), worth RM25.2 billion, were new while the balance came from expansion and diversification projects.
Foreign direct investments (FDIs) contributed 60.3 per cent, or RM25 billion, with Japan, China, Germany, Singapore and South Africa being the leading investors accounting for 84.5 per cent of FDIs, he said.
Mustapa said Johor topped the list attracting investment of RM14.9 billion due to Petronas’ Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development project.
It was followed by Sarawak (RM7.8 billion), Pahang and Kedah (RM4.3 billion each) and Selangor (RM3.7 billion), he said.
He said Malaysia’s investments abroad currently were significantly higher than the FDIs into the country, which were mainly in the oil and gas, property and Finance.
“Malaysia is a limited market and we encourage expansion of our domestic investments abroad as at the end of the day the revenue will be brought back to the country,” he said.
— BERNAMA
