THE Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) has surpassed its full-year target of approving RM52 billion investments for the manufacturing sector.
Mida strategic planning and investment ecosystem senior executive director Datuk Wan Hashim Wan Jusoh said RM53.2 billion worth of investments had been approved from January to July this year.
Of this, 42 per cent, or RM22.4 billion, were domestic investments, Wan Hashim said at a seminar on domestic investments, Bumiputera development and financial assistance, here, yesterday.
A total of 498 projects had been approved, of which 52 projects worth RM2.1 billion were from Bumiputera investors.
Wan Hashim said as of September, Mida had approved 118 projects worth RM550.1 million under the Domestic Investment Strategic Fund (DISF).
Bumiputera companies accounted for 23.2 per cent of the 118 projects, valued at RM127.5 million.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced in July 2012 the setting up of a RM1 billion DISF to speed up the shift of local businesses to high value-added industries.
The fund is to accelerate the participation of Malaysian companies in the global supply chain, namely high-value added, high technology, knowledge-intensive and innovation-based industries.
Wan Hashim said the government was always committed to ensuring capacity-building among Bumiputera entrepreneurs to make them more competitive globally.
The one-day seminar was a collaboration with Bumiputera Manufacturers and Services Industry Association of Malaysia and aimed at providing entrepreneurs with the latest on investment opportunities, assistance and facilities available.