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3rd July, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR: For the first five months of this year, Malaysia received foreign direct investment (FDI) of RM4.2 billion, said Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mustapa Mohamed yesterday.
He said this was about 10 per cent of the RM46.1 billion achieved for the whole of last year.
Last year, the FDI at RM46.1 billion was an all time high and a 38 per cent increase, following the approval of several large projects involving foreign participation.
Foreign investments accounted for 73.4 per cent of the total investments of RM62.8 billion approved.
Mustapa said in the medium term, Malaysia is expected to continue to draw investments, boosted by the several liberalisation measures announced, with the most recent being the deregulation of the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) guidelines.
Malaysia’s commitment to Asean to reduce tariffs up to zero per cent by 2010 could also help boost exports and investment.
“Our commitment to opening up our market will change investor sentiment,” he added.
Mustapa was speaking at the launch of Malaysia’s International Trade and Industry Report 2008 here.
He noted that in the short term, Malaysia would face a challenging time in terms of receiving investments and exports.
Reflecting on the export numbers for five months, the minister said it was on a declining mode.
For the first four months, total exports reduced by 21.7 per cent to RM162.5 billion. In April alone, Malaysia’s exports recorded a value of RM41.1 billion, lower by 26.3 per cent, on a year-on-year basis.
When compared with March 2009, the value of exports dropped by 5.6 per cent from RM43.6 billion.
However, Mustapa said the country was ready to face the challenges to continue being a leading investment destination.
Meanwhile, the deputy-director general II of the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) Datuk Wahab Hamid said, Malaysia is targeted to receive some RM30 billion in total investments this year.
“It is half the amount from last year’s RM62.8 billion,” he said on the sidelines of the ceremony.
Asked whether MIDA was confident of achieving the target, Wahab said: “With the initiatives being taken by the government to increase efficiency and the investment climate, we should be confident.
“We know this year will be very tough. By using new methods, techniques, approaches and developing our efforts, we feel Malaysia can still get the desired amount in investments.”
As for next year, Wahab said that as the challenging period remains, Malaysia is projected to receive some RM27.5 billion in investments.
“We are back to the average annual target of RM27.5 billion, set under the Third Industrial Master Plan (IMP3). The target is in place for us to achieve the developed status by 2020,” he added.
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