Malaysia Committed to Facilitate New Investment

While still making efforts to address the challenges arising from the geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape, Malaysia continues to be committed to facilitate new investments.

However, if those geopolitical factors tend to influence corporate decisions, Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz assured the people that the government is prepared to intervene if it affects Malaysia’s economic growth.

“We want to ensure that if there is any impact on jobs, the ministry (MITI) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and all the relevant agencies within the government will engage with the affected companies to help displaced staff secure new employment. That is important,” he clarified.

Tengku Zafrul noted that the current geopolitical landscape has impacted geoeconomics, therefore the government would continue to monitor the development.

“But we must also recognise that it’s not just about geopolitical challenges – sometimes, industry dynamics also play a role. There is also an element of competition. In some sectors, including the automotive industry, incumbents face challenges from new players, particularly in the electric vehicle sector. So, maybe it’s a combination of both,” he concluded.

InvestKL Targets Cumulative RM50 Bil FDI by 2030

Meanwhile, the investment promotion agency for Greater Kuala Lumpur, InvestKL Corporation alone secured a total of RM4.08 billion in foreign direct investments (FDIs) in 2024 from 12 leading global companies – which are set to create 4,394 executive jobs – complementing Malaysia’s ambition for a knowledge-driven and innovation-led economy.

Its chief executive officer Datuk Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli explained that the decline in 2024, compared to 2023 performance, InvestKL attracted a record-breaking RM8.7 billion in FDI in 2023, largely driven by three very large investments.

“It’s rare to see amounts over a billion when it comes to investments in the services sector as the sector does not include too much capital expenditure but (spends) from an operational expenditure perspective.

“So, when a service-related investment exceeds RM1 billion, that money primarily goes into salaries and services such as rental, legal, logistics and the supply chain, which is what happened in 2023,” he said.

In 2024, however, Malaysia received a significant investment when a Japanese company relocated to the country.

“When we look at the average per investment, it has increased. Previously, the average per investment was about RM200 million, but now it is between RM250 million and RM350 million.

“The trajectory from a total standpoint may look lower. However, we also look at the quality as well as the depth of complexity of the activities,” he added.

Azmi also said that InvestKL raised its total investment target to RM50 billion by 2030 from the initial target of RM35 billion upon discussion with MITI.

“If we look at the trend for the first 10 years of our operations, investments hovered at about Rm2 billion a year. However, from 2020, we saw that a corner has turned, where investments have gone north from RM2 billion. Today, we are doing an average from RM3.5 billion to RM4 billion a year in investments,” he added.

He mentioned that there are several perspectives to consider in achieving the RM50 billion target, including technology, the trade tariff war and the opportunities with ASEAN.

“When the country is focused on promoting the highest level of technology, the other industries will follow suit, which means that the development of other technologies will be easier because the ones that are being pushed to the front are very difficult and the trickle effect would be visible in that sense.

“ Certainly, Greater KL already has a momentum going and with the support of the whole ecosystem, we are confident of or even exceeding the target,” he concluded.

At the same time, MITI Deputy Secretary General Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil noted that Malaysia continues to strengthen its position as a key player in the global economy.

“In 2024, our country achieved a record high of RM378.5 billion in approved investments, underscoring strong investors’ confidence in our economic resilience and lone-term potential.

“Greater KL has been at the forefront of this success, leading the chart with RM192.6 billion in approved investments,” she said.