Malaysia remains attractive to foreign investors
PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia continues to be an attractive investment destination as total stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) rose by 10.3% to RM667.5bil in the second quarter of 2019, compared with RM605.1bil a year ago.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the steady rise in total FDI stock showed the continuing attractiveness of Malaysia as an international investment destination amid rising trade tensions across the world.
“Sustained economic growth is one of the reasons behind rising FDI stock, ” he said in a statement yesterday.
The 4.9% GDP quarterly growth was better than market expectations of 4.7% as compiled by Bloomberg.According to Lim, the International Investment Position and the Balance of Payments defined FDI as lasting investment made by foreign parties into domestic companies giving the former lasting controlling stake and this adhered to the definition provided by the International Monetary Fund.
Last week, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority announced that approved FDI across all sectors rose 97.2% to RM49.5bil in the first half of 2019, from RM25.1bil in the same period last year.Lim said approved manufacturing FDI rose by 74.2% to RM33.1bil during the first half of 2019, from RM19bil a year ago.
Of the investment, RM11.7bil came from the United States, making it the biggest source of approved manufacturing FDI during the period, followed by China (RM4.8bil), Singapore (RM3.1bil) and Japan (RM2.1bil). — Bernama