KUALA LUMPUR – A total of 13 factories in Malaysia that received foreign direct investments ceased operations between March and September this year, due to the challenging business environment brought about by Covid-19.
According to the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti), these 13 factories received investments from the United States, France, Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
“The closures of these factories can be attributed to reduced demand caused by intense competition between producers of the same product, increased operating costs, and economic instability due to Covid-19,” said its minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali.
Azmin was replying to a question by Noor Amin Ahmad (PH-Kangar) in Parliament yesterday on how much in foreign investments have been injected into the country since March 2020, and how much has been pulled out.
He said that between March and September, a total of 1,053 industrial and services projects were implemented under the supervision of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), a unit under Miti.
The projects approved by Mida carried investments worth RM61.7 billion in total, RM57.9 billion of which was injected into the industrial sector, while the remaining RM3.8 billion were invested into the services sector.
Out of the RM61.7 billion, 59.5% were from foreign direct investments and the rest were domestic investments.
Azmin said the government will be implementing initiatives to encourage the inflow of investments.
“Up until September, the government will be evaluating investment projects worth up to RM54 billion for the industrial and services sectors,” he said.
“Miti has also identified future projects through international Mida offices, with an investment potential of RM75.4 billion from foreign investors.” – The Vibes, December 4, 2020
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