Malaysia says China leads foreign investment in manufacturing sector

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Monday that foreign investment in the manufacturing sector remains on the rise so far this year with Chinese investment leading the way.

Citing Malaysian Investment Development Authority's latest statistics, Lim said the approved foreign direct investment (FDI) in the manufacturing sector surged 250 percent year-on-year to 49 billion ringgit ($11.75 billion) for the first nine months.

According to the statement, approved FDI from China led the way at 32 percent of the total, followed by Indonesia at 18.4 percent and the Netherlands at 17 percent.

"These approved FDIs are for investment across various manufacturing industries and companies from different regions," said Lim.

Meanwhile, for the period from May to September, total approved FDI in the manufacturing sector jumped close to four-fold to 35 billion ringgit ($8.39 billion), from the same period last year.

These figures did not include some of the more recent FDI approvals, such as the 1.5 billion ringgit ($359.7 million) investment which will be invested by NASDAQ-listed Micron over the next five years, in its Solid-State Drive Assembly and Testing Center.

"The approved FDI numbers are a positive indicator of encouraging economic growth in the future," said Lim.

The government will press on with its efforts to attract high quality FDI to provide well-paying jobs and career growth opportunities for Malaysians and business opportunities for the small and medium-sized enterprises as part of the larger vendor development ecosystem, he added.