KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 — Malaysia has achieved 60.3 per cent of its target for investments for 2023 within the first half of the year, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said.

More than half of it (52.2 per cent) were domestic direct investments (DDI) while the rest were foreign direct investments (FDI), he said.

"The target for investments for the year 2023 is RM220 billion and the country has achieved 60.3 per cent of it by June 2023 with approved investments of as much as RM132.6 billion,” he said in a written parliamentary reply to backbencher Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng yesterday.

The minister said that foreign investments from 10 countries made up 92.9 per cent of total foreign investments.

He listed the 10 countries as: Singapore, Japan, Netherlands, China, the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, South Korea, the United States, Italy and Seychelles.

These 10 countries’ investments were focused on the manufacturing (RM32.6 billion) and service sector (RM24.9 billion), he added.

He said that these investments were concentrated in five states: Kuala Lumpur (RM16.2 billion), Kedah (RM11.9 billion), Selangor (RM11.4 billion), Johor (RM9.5 billion), and Sarawak (RM3.2 billion).

The five main industries foreign investments focused on were: information and communication (RM23.1 billion), electrical and electronics (RM11.9 billion), machinery and equipment (RM9.1 billion), transport equipment (RM4.2 billion) and basic metal products (RM2.3 billion).

Tengku Zafrul was responding to a question from Lim regarding the 10 highest FDIs approved this year and their locations as well as the total investment target for 2023.

Last month, national news agency Bernama reported Tengku Zafrul as saying that his ministry expects Malaysia to record stronger growth in the second half of this year.

He called the investments a vote of confidence in the Malaysian economy and what it offers to foreign investors, which includes a pro-business government.

Auditor-General Datuk Wan Suraya Wan Mohd Radzi told reporters in Parliament yesterday that Malaysia is doing much better financially now and has achieved stability even with a higher sovereign debt when compared to the past three years since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Because of that, she said the National Audit Department was able to provide the federal government with a Certificate Without Reprimand With Other Matter for its latest financial statement.