KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 71% of approved foreign investments worth RM282.2bil have been realised as of last September, says Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani (pic).
The Investment, Trade and Industry Minister said this covered 966 manufacturing projects approved from 2022.
“These realised investments created 141,470 job opportunities,” he said in a parliamentary written reply.
Johari said 7,856 of the jobs offered salaries exceeding RM10,000, while 21,550 positions paid between RM5,000 and RM10,000.
“The majority of these high-income roles are in management, professional, engineering, supervisory and skilled technical categories.
“Additionally, 31,880 jobs offered salaries between RM3,000 and RM5,000,” he said.
He said the largest portion – 80,184 jobs – paid below RM3,000 and was dominated by machine operators, assembly workers, sales, clerical and general staff members.
Johari said a total of 1,361 foreign manufacturing projects worth RM357.1bil were approved during the same period, adding that 356 projects (26.2%) worth RM60.1bil were still in planning involving location selection and discussions with developers.
“Only 2.8% of the approved projects were not implemented,” he added.
The minister said approved investments typically took between 18 and 24 months to be implemented, depending on the scale and complexity of the project as well as current economic conditions.
He said a project was considered “realised” once it had either commenced operations, begun machinery installation or was in the process of construction or leasing premises.
To expedite the implementation of projects, Johari said the government was utilising a “whole-of-government” approach through the Project Implementation and Facilitation Office and Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre at the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.
He said the National Investment Council, chaired by the Prime Minister, was the highest executive body to provide strategic directions, mainly for iconic and high-impact projects.
