Malaysia records RM74.6bil FDIs in 2022

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded a net inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI) of RM74.6bil in 2022 as compared to RM50.4bil in 2021.

The National Statistics Department said in a statement that as at the end of the 2022, the country's FDI position was RM879.1bil, up from RM782bil in 2021.

Meanwhile, the country's direct investment abroad (DIA) for 2022 was RM58.6bil as compared to RM19.4bil in 2021.

The Statistics Department said Malaysia's FDIs and DIAs were encouraging as it reflected the favourable economic situation in the country that attracted foreign companies to continue their investments and similarly, local companies to expand and diversify their business activities abroad.

By sector, Malaysia's manufacturing contributed to the largest FDI flows, expanding RM17.1bil for a net inflow of RM49.5bil.

This was followed by services, which was the second highest contributor, followed by the mining sector.

The statistics department said the Americas region surpassed Asia as the highest region of FDI for 2022 with net inflows of RM42.6bil, mainly from the US, which amounted to RM37.8bil.

"Meanwhile, Asia region has been the predominant source for FDI position with a value of RM449bil, followed by Europe at RM224.5bil and the Americas at RM187.3bil as at the end of 2022," it added.

On DIAs, the country's position stood at RM607.5bil as at end-2022, compared to RM546.5bil a year before.

The services sector remained the primary sector for DIA, contributing 72.2% of the total investment, especially in financial activities.

Meanwhile, the mining and quarrying and manufacturing sectors contributed 12.5% and 10.2%, respectively.

By region, Asia overtook Europe as the region with the highest DIA flows in 2022 with a value of RM23.5bil.

The Netherlands secured the most DIA flows with RM14.3bil, followed by Indonesia with RM11.9bil and Singapore with RM11.2bil.