KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) — Malaysia recorded a total of RM37.4 billion worth of approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in the first quarter (1Q) of this year. Of the total investments approved, RM26.3 billion or 70.4 per cent was contributed by domestic investments (DDI) while RM11.1 billion or 29.6 per cent came from foreign sources (FDI). Switzerland (RM2.7 billion), Singapore (RM2.1 billion), the United States of America (RM2.0 billion), China (RM1.4 billion) and Japan (RM0.9 billion) were the top five sources of FDI for the manufacturing, services and primary sectors during the period.
The manufacturing sector was the largest contributor to the value of approved investments in 1Q 2020 amounting to RM25.2 billion, followed by the services sector (RM11.9 billion) and the primary sector (RM0.3 billion). These investments involved 892 projects and will create over 19,100 jobs for the country. For approved projects by state, the five major states namely Sabah, Penang, Selangor, Johor and W.P. Kuala Lumpur, contributed RM30.0 billion (80.1 per cent) to the total approved investments for January to March 2020.