Mida eyes RM170b investments in manufacturing, services

JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) is targeting for RM170 billion investments in manufacturing and services sector by the year-end.

Deputy chief executive officer Datuk Phang Ah Tong said that for the first six months of the year, the authority had approved some RM49 billion of investments in manufacturing sector and RM62 billion in services sector.

"So this means the investments for both segments were already more than RM110 billion. But, by the end of this year, we still expect to secure at least RM170 billion in total investments for the two segments," he told reporters  after the opening of a new Bosch sales office in Bukit Indah, Johor Baru, on Tuesday.

Phang was asked about the target investments in the manufacturing sector by the end of the year.

Phang said he also believed that despite the challenging global economic growth, the manufacturing sector would continue to drive Malaysia's economy, supported by the services sector.

"We are still optimistic about it and next year, we will see investments coming into electronics, medical devices, aerospace and machinery equipment, while in oil and gas, we expect a slowdown," he added.

In anticipation of this, Phang called on all state governments to improve their logistics and infrastructure to attract more multinational companies to invest in their respective states.

"When a company makes a decision to set up its entity or have a presence in a particular location, it has to take into account a few factors including economic stability, availability of talent, infrastructure and others... This is the whole package," he added.

Earlier in his speech, Phang described the opening of the Bosch office in Johor as timely in capturing the growing market oppurtunities in the region, especially with the realisation of the Asean Economic Community and Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership which will increase market accessibility across member countries. - Bernama