KUALA LUMPUR, 21 June – Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) saw a 261.65 per cent growth to RM48.1 billion in 2021 compared to RM13.3 billion in 2020, said the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) in a statement.
According to DOSM, Malaysia’s FDI registered a higher value of RM788.8 billion at the end of 2021, while the direct investment abroad grew by 93.13 per cent to RM19.7 billion from RM10.2 billion in 2020.
Chief Statistician Malaysia Datuk Sri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said that the higher FDI and DIA in 2021 was supported by the gradual recovery in the global economy from the after-effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Based on the World Investment Report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), FDI flows to developing countries in Asia rose by 19% of USD619 billion (approximately RM2.72 trillion) in 2021.
“As such, the foreign investment into Malaysia in 2021 rose to register RM48.1 billion, the highest since 2016,” said Mohd Uzir in a statement on Friday.
He said the manufacturing sector attributed to the largest flows in FDI with a net inflows of RM29.5 billion in 2021.
“Manufacturing sector attracted 61.4% of total investment, particularly in electrical, transport equipment and other manufacturing subsectors,” he said.
The second-highest was the services sector, mainly in financial activities, followed by the mining sector which received equity and investment fund shares.
The statistician sees that Asia region continued to be the top source of FDI in Malaysia for 2021 with net inflows of RM22.5 billion, mostly received from Singapore, Japan and Republic of Korea which amounted to RM17 billion.
“The Asia region also has been the predominant source for FDI position with a value of RM413.1 billion, followed by Europe (RM207.7 billion) and Americas (RM153 billion) as at the end of 2021,” he noted.
On DIA, the achievements was supported from higher investment in the manufacturing at 40.5% and services sectors (30.3%)
Meanwhile, the return on investment (ROI) for FDI companies increased to RM0.13 from RM0.06 in 2020 for every RM1 of investment.
“Malaysian companies receive RM0.11 for every RM1.00 of investment abroad,” he added.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector attained the highest income from both FDI and DIA.
Source: The Malaysian Reserve
