China becomes largest FDI sources for Malaysia in 2020

KUALA LUMPUR, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China became the largest source of foreign direct investments (FDI) for Malaysia in 2020, said the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) Tuesday.

Malaysia recorded a total of 164 billion ringgit (about 40.41 billion U.S. dollars) in approved investments through 4,599 projects in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in 2020. In contrast, a total of 5,287 projects with investments of 211.4 billion ringgit were approved in 2019.

In 2020, domestic direct investments accounted for the bulk of the total approved investments with a contribution of 60.9 percent (99.8 billion ringgit), while foreign direct investments (FDI) made up the remaining 64.2 billion ringgit (39.1 percent).

China, Singapore and the Netherlands were the top three FDI sources from overall economic sectors in Malaysia, accounting for more than half of the total approved FDI for the year, said the MIDA.

Among the major economic sectors, the manufacturing sector led the way for total investments approved in 2020, recording 91.3 billion ringgit, of which 62 percent (56.6 billion ringgit) came from FDI.

China remained as the top investor in the manufacturing sector in Malaysia, contributing 17.8 billion ringgit of the total foreign investments approved in the sector, becoming the largest source of foreign investments in the manufacturing sector for five consecutive years, according to the MIDA. (1 U.S. dollar equals 4.06 ringgit)