KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 28 — Prompt and disciplined implementation of approved investments is important to generate positive economic spillovers to domestic small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and the creation of 127,000 job opportunities for the people, according to the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti).

Miti and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) are working hard to fully realise the approved investments for 2023, which was RM329.5 billion, a 23 per cent increase compared to 2022.

"Of that amount, foreign investment (FDI) was the main contributor at 57.2 per cent compared to domestic investment (DDI) at 42.8 per cent.

"The 35.1 per cent increase in DDI also reflected the encouraging confidence of local investors in the MADANI Government's economic policies," said the ministry in a written reply to Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim's question at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

He wanted to know the latest status of the investment of RM170 billion that was promised as a result of the official working visit to China in April 2023 and what is the actual amount of money invested to date.

Commenting further, Miti said the total investment approved involved 5,101 projects and has the potential to create more than 127,000 new job opportunities in the country.

Miti, through its agencies such as the Malaysia Productivity Corporation (MPC), is also striving to train as many local workers as possible through programmes such as the Academy in Industry (AiI) to meet the demand for quality and trained talent from high-tech and high-impact industries.

"Until February 2024, MPC has successfully placed and improved the skills of 2,665 youths who did not have the opportunity to go to higher education institutions to get a job or improve their ability to benefit from the investment realised in Malaysia," it said.

Through the trade and investment mission to China from March 29 until April 3, 2023, Miti said the investment potential from conferences, roundtable meetings and the Malaysia-China Business Forum was estimated to be worth RM170 billion.

Disciplined implementation is one of Miti's main focuses this year. "Thus, Miti and MIDA are always committed to providing advice, support and facilitation services to potential investors to ensure the implementation of approved projects can be realised as soon as possible," said the ministry.

Furthermore, in terms of implementation, Miti has established, among others, the Investment and Trade Implementation Action Committee (JTPPP) which is chaired by the Miti Minister to immediately solve implementation issues and obstacles related to investment and trade, especially high-quality and high-impact investments, including a focus on accelerating the implementation of projects.

The establishment of the Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre and the Project Implementation and Facilitation Office at MIDA has also helped speed up the process of approval and implementation of investment projects.

Various manufacturing projects that would generally take 18-24 months to complete were successfully implemented in less than 18 months.

Among the projects that were successfully implemented quickly was Enovix Malaysia Sdn Bhd, which developed a silicon carbide battery manufacturing facility involving an investment of RM5.8 billion (US$1.2 billion) over 15 years. — Bernama