KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Malaysia has become more selective in its investment agenda, attracting quality investments in targeted ecosystems that are projected to have significant knock-on effects throughout the domestic economy, said International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Darell Leiking.

In a statement today, he said Malaysia recorded RM149 billion worth of approved investments in the services, manufacturing and primary sectors in the first nine months of this year.

"This was 4.4 per cent higher than the RM142.6 billion approved in the same period last year.

"These investments involved 4,025 projects and will create an additional of 93,841 job opportunities,” said Darell.

The majority of the investments came from domestic sources, which contributed RM82.7 billion or 55.5 per cent of the total investments.

Foreign direct investments (FDI) represented 44.5 per cent or RM66.3 billion.

"Total approved FDI in these three main sectors increased by 6.5 per cent to RM66.3 billion in January-September 2019 from RM62.2 billion in the same period last year,” he said.

In terms of sectors, the services sector attracted RM85 billion involving 3,299 approved projects compared with RM74.9 billion comprising 2,931 projects recorded in the corresponding period last year.

These projects are poised to generate over 38,800 employment opportunities.

Out of the total, 72 per cent or RM61.2 billion were from domestic sources and the balance of 28 per cent or RM23.8 billion were foreign investments.

The manufacturing sector approved 671 projects worth RM57.7 billion in the first nine months of 2019 compared with 467 projects with investments of RM57.5 billion in January-September 2018.

Domestic investments amounted to RM18.5 billion or 32.1 per cent, an increase of 81.7 per cent from RM10.2 billion in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, the primary sector contributed RM6.3 billion or 4.2 per cent of the total approved investments in January-September 2019.

The mining subsector continued to lead with approved investments of RM5.9 billion, followed by plantation and commodities with RM275.2 million, and agriculture with RM135.1 million.

Foreign investments dominated the approved investments for the sector totalling RM3.3 billion while domestic sources contributed RM3 billion.

"Despite the ongoing trade tensions pointing to slower growth, we will stick to the course and continue attracting strategic partners to invest in Malaysia.

"This will generate more spillover impact on the economy through the growth of the local supply chain ecosystems and improvement of the Malaysian workforce,” said Darell.

As of September 2019, he said the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) was actively negotiating 682 projects with proposed investments of RM37.6 billion.

These include 242 projects within the manufacturing sector (RM26.6 billion) and 440 projects in the services sector (RM11.0 billion). — Bernama