Malaysia's foreign direct investments highest in region
PETALING JAYA: Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into Malaysia totalled US$7bil (RM21.4bil) in 2010, compared with US$1.4bil in 2009, reflecting increasing investor confidence in Malaysia.
This was an impressive growth of 409.7%, the highest recorded in the region as well as among the 153 economies surveyed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Global And Regional FDI Trends 2010.
“The UNCTAD figures reaffirm my statement on Dec 11, 2010 that Malaysia recorded significant inflows of FDI amounting to US$5.4bil in the first nine months of 2010, based on data released by the department of statistics,” International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed (right) said in a statement yesterday.
He said that Malaysia's achievement was all the more significant as the UNCTAD report showed that world FDI inflows in 2010 remained relatively stagnant with a marginal growth of 1% to US$1.12 trillion, from US$1.11 trillion in the preceding year.
“This achievement is a reflection of increasing investor confidence in Malaysia. This demonstrates investors' belief that the Government of Malaysia is able to deliver and successfully implement its economic transformation and reform programmes, as contained in the New Economic Model,” he said.
On the manufacturing front, Malaysia attracted higher levels of investments in 2010 compared with 2009.
“I recently announced the approved investments in the manufacturing sector of RM47.2bil in 2010, compared with RM32.6bil in 2009.
“Malaysia is also back on the radar of international investors as evidenced by the inflow of foreign funds into Bursa Malaysia since last September,” he said, adding that the local bourse hit the highest mark on Jan 7, 2011 at 1,572.21 points.
The minister said the UNCTAD numbers clearly negated the claims by certain quarters that the decline in FDI into Malaysia in 2009 was due to the “Government's poor governance and endemic corruption”.
“Proactive measures to improve the government delivery system and reduce the cost of doing business, as well as close collaboration with the private sector contributed to this investment growth in the country.
“The Government will continue to transform the Malaysian economy to enhance its attractiveness as the preferred investment destination in the region,” he said.
Mustapa said he was confident that FDI inflows into Malaysia would remain strong this year and beyond.
This was an impressive growth of 409.7%, the highest recorded in the region as well as among the 153 economies surveyed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its Global And Regional FDI Trends 2010.
He said that Malaysia's achievement was all the more significant as the UNCTAD report showed that world FDI inflows in 2010 remained relatively stagnant with a marginal growth of 1% to US$1.12 trillion, from US$1.11 trillion in the preceding year.
“This achievement is a reflection of increasing investor confidence in Malaysia. This demonstrates investors' belief that the Government of Malaysia is able to deliver and successfully implement its economic transformation and reform programmes, as contained in the New Economic Model,” he said.
On the manufacturing front, Malaysia attracted higher levels of investments in 2010 compared with 2009.
“I recently announced the approved investments in the manufacturing sector of RM47.2bil in 2010, compared with RM32.6bil in 2009.
“Malaysia is also back on the radar of international investors as evidenced by the inflow of foreign funds into Bursa Malaysia since last September,” he said, adding that the local bourse hit the highest mark on Jan 7, 2011 at 1,572.21 points.
The minister said the UNCTAD numbers clearly negated the claims by certain quarters that the decline in FDI into Malaysia in 2009 was due to the “Government's poor governance and endemic corruption”.
“Proactive measures to improve the government delivery system and reduce the cost of doing business, as well as close collaboration with the private sector contributed to this investment growth in the country.
“The Government will continue to transform the Malaysian economy to enhance its attractiveness as the preferred investment destination in the region,” he said.
Mustapa said he was confident that FDI inflows into Malaysia would remain strong this year and beyond.
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