Foreign investment to hit RM60bil

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign direct investment in Malaysia is expected to hit RM60bil this year compared with about RM40bil last year, said International Trade and Industry Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

“We are targeting regions like the Middle East which have a surplus of funds and will also explore new markets like South America and Africa,” he told reporters after his presentation at the National Economic Outlook Conference yesterday.

He said his ministry was working on a different approach to drive its investment activities and expected to allocate RM200mil for Mida and Malaysian External Trade Development Corp to lead trade missions and engage in promotional activities.

“We have targeted missions to look at specific areas like the Middle East, South America and Africa,” he said.

Muhyiddin said the total trade figures for this year were expected to at least match last year’s figure of RM1.2 trillion.

“The manufacturing sector grew by around 2% in the third quarter of this year. As is to be expected, manufactured exports exhibited weakness.

“However, domestic industries continued to register strong growth, in particular, the transport equipment, construction-related products and food industries,” he said.