MALAYSIA continues to be a hot investment hub for manufacturing projects with a total of 740 projects being approved in the first nine months of this year despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A total of 740 projects worth RM65.3 bil was approved so far, compared to the 669 projects worth RM56 bil in the same period last year, an increase of 16.6%,” said the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
The investment authority also said the approved projects would create 51,172 jobs for the nation, including for 1,040 electrical and electronic engineers, 963 mechanical engineers and 331 chemical engineers.
It added: “The projects would also require about 5,499 skilled plant maintenance supervisors, tools and die makers, machinists, IT personnel, quality controllers, electricians and welders.”
Divulging details, MIDA said most the projects approved in the manufacturing sector involve petroleum products including petrochemicals (RM15 bil), basic metal products (RM14.5 bil) and electrical and electronics (RM7.7 bil).
“The projects also involve machinery and equipment (RM5.8 bil), chemicals and chemical products (RM4.5 bil), food manufacturing (RM3 bil), transport equipment (RM3 bil) as well as scientific and measuring equipment (RM2.1 bil).
“These industries make up 85% of the total approved investments for the sector,” it said.
In terms of domestic direct investment (DDI), the manufacturing sector saw a leap of 45.5% to RM25.9 bil during the nine-month period compared to the same period last year, while the value of approved foreign direct investments (FDI) increased by 3.2% to RM39.4 bil.
It added the leading sources of FDI for the period were China, Singapore, Switzerland, the US, Netherlands, Thailand, Japan and South Korea.
“These eight countries jointly accounted for 91.4% or RM36 bil of the total FDI approved in the manufacturing sector,” said MIDA.
” The states which recorded the highest total approved investments in the manufacturing sector are Sarawak, Sabah, Penang, Selangor and Johor. These states have collectively contributed RM51.3 bil.”
In a recent joint study by KPMG and The Manufacturing Institute in the US entitled Cost of Manufacturing Operations around the Globe, Malaysia was ranked fourth among 17 nations in terms of economic competitiveness as a manufacturing hub.
“Evaluating 23 cost factors which impact the cost of doing business (CoDB), the study validates Malaysia’s aspirations to become a global supply chain hub in the region,” added MIDA. – Nov 9, 2020
