KUALA LUMPUR: Some 80% of approved investments between 2021 and the first quarter of this year have been realised, says the Investment, Trade and Industry Minister.
Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (pic) attributed this to diligent follow-ups by agency-led initiatives such as the Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre.
He said the country achieved a record high RM330bil in terms of approved investments in 2023 and a 13% year-on-year increase in the first quarter of 2024.
On trade, he said Malaysia’s total exports surpassed RM1 trillion for the third-year-running last year, while total trade reached RM1.4 trillion for the first half of 2024, making it the highest ever for the period.
“Compared with many of our regional neighbours, Malaysia has shown its ability to punch well above its weight in the movement of goods across borders. This is also attributed to Malaysia’s commitment to the rules-based framework of global trade through its membership of an extensive ecosystem of free trade agreements,” he said at PRAXIS 2024 here yesterday.
PRAXIS is the Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia’s flagship public policy conference, designed to bridge ideas and translate theory into practice.
Despite the achievements, Tengku Zafrul said there was considerable room for improvement.
This includes enhancing the utilisation rates of free trade agreements like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) among Malaysian firms.
He also highlighted the need to empower more small and medium enterprises to participate in international trade, and build resilience by economic diversification.
Separately, Tengku Zafrul said the standoff between the United States and China presents opportunities for Malaysia’s electrical and electronics (E&E) and renewable energy sector.
He said globally, investors in industries such as electric vehicles and solar power are focused on securing sensitive trade goods.
“At the heart of today’s tech Cold War lies a battle over the semiconductor supply chain and Malaysia’s 50-year-old semiconductor sector places us in an excellent position to reap such opportunities.
“This is why we introduced the National Semiconductor Strategy (NSS) to move our semiconductor producers up the global value chain for us to export more higher-value products,” he said.
He said Malaysia has already welcomed global investors such as Infineon, Intel and Texas Instruments who have also increased their investments in Malaysia, citing the country’s agile tech supply chains.
Aside from efforts on skilled talent development, Tengku Zafrul said Malaysia must also apply data-driven solutions.
He added that a proposal to establish an Integrated Digital Platform consisting of a Supply Chain Intelligent Management System, Business Continuity App and Virtual Centre of Excellence, was also presented to the National Investment Council yesterday.
Meanwhile, ISIS Malaysia chairman Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah said the policy solutions put forward at the PRAXIS 2024 sessions will be combined with cutting-edge research and analyses from researchers and knowledge partners.
“We commit that these policy papers will be made publicly available for all, and we will be delivering them to the desks of all stakeholders to advance better policy solutions for the country,” he said.
