KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur has again emerged as one of the top destinations for investors in 2021, attracting the third-highest investments approved in Malaysia after Penang and Kedah.
InvestKL chief executive officer Muhammad Azmi Zulkifli said the national capital recorded RM37.7 billion in investments last year, an increase from RM17.1 billion in 2020.
"More importantly, Kuala Lumpur is a major host of the country's diversified services sector that continued to expand with intensified digitalisation last year.
"This accounts for a substantial portion of the high-technology and high-value investments nationwide with a strong focus on innovation," said Azmi.
According to InvestKL, Malaysia's services sector attracted RM94.1 billion in approved investments in 2021 through 3,803 projects, of which foreign investments made up 26.5 per cent of the total spending with RM24.9 billion.
The global establishments sub-sector was among the top five contributors in the services sector with RM19.7 billion in approved investments last year, higher than the RM595.2 million achieved in 2020.
Other major contributors of approved investments in the services sectors include real estate (RM28.8 billion), financial services (RM12 billion), utilities (RM9.6 billion), and information communications (RM8.2 billion).
Azmi said Malaysia was garnering traction as a regional hub for multinational corporations searching for the most ideal location to house their central operating hubs.
"Kuala Lumpur is also playing a key role in attracting such high-quality projects to the country with its excellent connectivity and competitive ecosystem," he said.
Meanwhile, Azmi said digitalisation was a major theme that continued to drive investments in the services sector as remote working and automation trends gathered pace throughout the pandemic.
He said the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (Ai) and the cloud network have also spurred new services, elevating the importance of the services sector to the Malaysian economy as we focused on attracting targeted investments in these areas.
"This is also reflected in InvestKL's two initiatives launched in 2021; Greater Kuala Lumpur (GKL) Live Lab, a driver for quality, innovation-led, and knowledge-intensive investments, and Fit4Work, a programme to nurture quality, innovative and knowledgeable workforce while creating highly skilled employment opportunities.
"Given Kuala Lumpur's infrastructure and pool of talents, InvestKL is well poised to help advance Malaysia's sustainable agenda by targeting high-level and niche investments, specifically in the areas of digital technology, global services and innovative offerings," he added.