KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali said that Malaysia recorded RM306.5 billion of approved investments last year in the manufacturing, services and primary industries.

During a press conference today, the senior minister said that this was an increase of 83.1 per cent compared to the previous year and the highest since 2006.

"On that note, it is with great pride that I announce that Malaysia has successfully achieved RM306.5 billion of approved investment in 2021 for the manufacturing, services, and primary sectors.

"Charting an astounding 83.1 per cent increase compared to the performance in 2020,” he said during his speech at the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) here.

He also said that Malaysia’s total approved foreign direct investment (FDI) saw a massive jump of 224.9 per cent or RM208.6 billion last year, with the Netherlands, Singapore, China, Austria and Japan emerging as the top five foreign investors.

On domestic direct investment (DDI), he said that the country recorded RM97.9 billion, which was a sign of local industry players’ growing capabilities and business capacity to be highly competitive globally.

"While these achievements have placed Malaysia on the right track, nevertheless, it would be naive to assume that the voyage ahead will be plain sailing.

"As trading nations, we continue to be impacted by the dynamics of geopolitical and geo-economic factors, as well as the continuing Covid-19 pandemic.

"Hence, it stands to reason to expect a wide spectrum of uncertainties and potential headwinds coming our way, with global supply chain disruptions, spikes in commodity prices as well as inflation,” he added.

Reopening of international borders

With the reopening of the country’s international borders looming, Mohamed Azmin said this would definitely have a positive impact on local industry players as it opens the door to increased productivity and capacity to fulfil global demands.

"We can see that when the international borders were closed, it disrupted the supply chain as we already know that Malaysia is one of the countries that is active in the global supply chain in many sectors.

"Especially in automotive, aerospace and other sectors as Malaysia’s semiconductor industry is one of the most important globally,” he added.

On Sunday, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that the country’s economic recovery process, which has been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, is expected to speed up with the imminent border reopening.

The day before that, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that Malaysia’s borders would be allowed to re-open very soon.