Amid a plunge in the number of approved investments in Malaysia, Penang registered the highest level with RM7.7 billion worth of investments, according to Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).
In welcoming the news, Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Penang registered 45.29 percent of the total RM17 billion investment in the country.
He compared the figure with last year’s RM4.3 billion in total approved investments for Penang.
“I congratulate all Penangites and also thank MIDA and its minister Mustapa Mohamed for the effort. We will continue our effort to attract more investments in future,” said Lim.
“Such reports are not publicised in many newspapers, perhaps because Penang leads again,” Lim (photo) quipped, at a press conference today.
“Although the figure refers to the level of investment for only first half of 2017, the situation is encouraging, giving Penangites bright hopes of doing even better for the second half of the year,” he added.
Lim was referring to a report in The Star today, which quoted MIDA as saying that a 41 percent plunge in the number of approved investments in the services sector dragged total approved investments in Malaysia.
The numbers fell 28.2 percent year on year to RM65.4 billion for the first half of 2017, the English daily reported.
In the report, MIDA said foreign investments contributed RM9.6 billion or 56.6 percent, with the leading sources being the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
MIDA added that in terms of the top recipients of approved investments in the manufacturing sector, Penang registered the highest level of investments with RM7.7 billion, followed by Melaka (RM2.9 billion), Selangor (RM1.7 billion), Johor (RM1.4 billion) and Kedah (RM1.0 billion).
Last November, Penang State Legislative Assembly Opposition Leader Jahara Hamid (BN-Teluk Ayer Tawar) expressed her concerns about the downward trend in the investments sector of the state.
She said investments were down despite the state’s 18 overseas investment missions that were carried out in 2016, and urged for a report on the outcomes of the trips in question. - Mkini
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