China, Singapore and South Korea are top three investors in Johor

Johor investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han (centre) listening to a briefing at one of the exhibition booths at the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) industry engagement day at Persada Johor on Sept 12, 2022 while SIRIM president and group chief executive Datuk Dr Ahmad Sabirin Arshad (right) looks on.

JOHOR BARU: China, Singapore and South Korea were the top three countries that have poured investments into Johor in the first half of the year.

Out of the total RM60.9bil raked in by Johor, which was the highest investment value in the country from January to June, investors from China contributed some 60% or RM40bil, said Johor investment, trade and consumer affairs committee chairman Lee Ting Han.

“The investments mostly went into setting up data centres as a lot of cost goes into the land (acquisition) and sophisticated facilities for such services.

“So far, the global political situation has not impacted the state in terms of receiving investments from China and Taiwan and we remain in the position of welcoming investments that will benefit the people and country,” he told reporters after launching Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM) engagement day at Persada Johor here on Monday (Sept 12).

Lee added that Singapore and South Korea came in second and third place respectively as the top investors for the state.

Asked about the state government’s forecast for the investment value for the rest of the year, Lee said no target has been set yet but he was optimistic that “it will be a good year for Johor this year.”

“We are currently in active talks with investors from countries such as the United States and United Kingdom in various sectors like petrochemical and manufacturing.

“We are also expecting the launch of an aerospace project later this month, which is scheduled to be officiated by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali at the Nusajaya Tech Park,” he said.

On Sept 2, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), reported that the RM60.9bil investment was an increase of 822% compared with the corresponding period in 2021.

From January to June 2022, the service sector recorded RM54.2bil of investments, which accounted for almost the entire amount of investments with the presence of foreign-based data companies.

Meanwhile, the RM6.7bil recorded went to the manufacturing sector while the primary sectors - distribution, transportation and logistics - registered RM0.03bil.