KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia recorded an increase in approved investments when its value reached RM329.5 billion last year, which is 23 per cent higher as compared to 2022.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the amount recorded was the highest in the country's history.
He said the remarkable performance in the investment landscape reflected the recovery and revival of Malaysia's economy throughout the year of the Madani government's administration.
"Of the total investment, foreign investment is the main contributor, accounting for 57.2 per cent compared to domestic investment at 42.8 per cent.
"This outstanding performance is supported by a 35.1 per cent increase in domestic investment and a 15.3 per cent increase in foreign investment.
"Indirectly, this is an indicator that the pro-investment and pro-business policies implemented through a whole-of-government approach have begun to yield results in boosting investor confidence," he said in a statement, today.
Anwar said the amount of approved investment involved 5,101 projects that could create over 127,000 new job opportunities for the citizens and the country.
"The service sector leads with the highest investment, contributing over half (51.1 per cent) of the approved amount at RM168.4 billion, followed by the manufacturing sector with RM152.0 billion (46.1 per cent) and the primary industries sector with RM9.1 billion (2.8 per cent)."
He said the achievement was presented at today's National Investment Council (NIC) meeting.
He said the meeting also discussed the country's direction regarding digital investments.
"This is in line with the rapid growth of the digital economy, a crucial sector in strengthening the national investment agenda.
"Malaysia's digital economy, which contributed 23.2 per cent to the gross domestic product in 2021, is projected to increase to 25.5 per cent by 2025.
"From 2021 to Sep 2023, 396 digital-related projects were approved with an investment value of RM128.9 billion, including projects approved through the NIC.
"Investments in these digital projects are expected to create job opportunities for 36,553 local citizens," he said.
Anwar added that approved digital investments include sectors such as data centres, cloud computing, data hosting, big data analytics, and artificial intelligence.
He said the presence of leading global digital companies in Malaysia signals the country's attractive and conducive investment ecosystem for digital investments.
"Therefore, the government must facilitate potential digital investments as smoothly as possible without compromising on data security and national sovereignty aspects," he said.