News South Asia

Malaysia records billions of investments, nearly 40,000 jobs

Good news for Malaysian graduates this week as it has been reported that RM37.3bil has been approved to be invested in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors in the first quarter. The investment, if implemented fully, should see the creation of 39,990 jobs, The Star reports.

The Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, noted that while this year will be challenging, the investment is set to involve 1,271 projects.

“As a diversified economy, we believe we can withstand these challenges and overcome them, especially with the continued inflow of foreign investments into the country. We are definitely doubling our efforts in achieving the country’s investment target,” he said.

A year of growth

He reiterated that despite a weaker global environment, Malaysia remains a competitive investment location for foreign investors; noting an increase of 28% in this quarter.

He continued: “Year-on-year, FDI increased to RM12.8bil in Q1 2016 from RM10bil in the corresponding period of 2015. Domestic investments led with RM24.5bil or 65.7% of total approved investments in Q1 2016.

“The services sector attracted RM27.6bil of approved investments in Q1 2016. A total of 1,088 services projects were approved creating 20,200 employment opportunities, the largest potential employer in the economy.”  

He also added that the country is seeing more foreign participation in distributive trade, education services, global establishments, financial services and real estate sub-sectors.

Distributive trade witnessed an increase of a huge 992% of foreign participation from RM101.5mil in Q1 2015 to RM1, 108.7mil in Q1 2016. These investments from regional and international retailers have advanced Malaysia’s ranking to 3rd position in the 2016 Global Retail Development Index (GRDI) by A.T. Kearney. 

Investing in the future

In the education sub-sector, we can see an increase of 672.7% of foreign investments from RM19.3mil in Q1 2015 to RM149.2mil in Q1 2016. Mustapa believes that this reflects Malaysia’s success in accelerating the process in making the country a regional education hub of excellence as well as the Government’s dedication to improving accessibility to high quality education.

The Star also noted that “Global establishments and end-to-end global supply chain management services are fast becoming important components in the Malaysian economic backbone.” Investment in areas such as aerospace, electronics and electrical, food and beverage and resource-based industries are also set to boost job creation and growth.

In fact, investments in the manufacturing sector alone are predicted to create around 19,650 employment opportunities at various levels.

Overall it has been a very exciting year for development and job creation in Malaysia but this new globalised vision needs globalised individuals to drive it. If you want to be a part of Malaysia’s economic boom, check out our job listings today.