PETALING JAYA: Malaysia registered a total of RM53.9 billion approved investments in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors for the first quarter of 2019 (Q1 2019), 3.1% higher than the RM52.3 billion recorded in the same period last year.
Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said in a statement that the growth was mainly driven by the robust performance of the manufacturing sector, which jumped 126.8% compared with Q1 2018.
Foreign investments increased 73.4% to RM29.3 billion in Q1 2019 from RM16.9 billion. Meanwhile, domestic investments approved in Q1 2019 amounted to RM24.6 billion, contributing 45.6% to the total.
The investments approved in January-March period were from 1,678 projects, and are expected to generate more than 41,200 job opportunities for the country.
MIDA said the manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of total potential employment in the economy with 22,970 job opportunities or 55.7%, followed by the services sector with 18,000 job opportunities (43.7%) and primary sector with 240 employment opportunities (0.6%).
