Although the number of projects dropped 3.7% from RM156.6 billion in the same period last year, they are expected to create 117,550 jobs.

International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, in a statement today, said the overall investment performance for the whole of 2016 could be sustained despite the challenging global environment.

He said domestic investments accounted for 74.8% of the total investments at RM112.8 billion, while foreign investments made up the rest.

“The services sector attracted the largest portion of approved investments, contributing 71.9% or RM108.4 billion, followed by the manufacturing sector with investments of RM40.7 billion or 27%, and the primary sector with approved investments of RM1.7 billion or 1.1%,” he said.

The minister said for the January-September 2016 period, the value of investments in the services sector increased 26.2% from the corresponding period last year.

He said the projects were expected to create 69,660 jobs, of which more than 95% were in distributive trade, Multimedia Super Corridor-status, hotel and tourism, education and global establishments.

However, he said the total number of projects approved declined 3.9% to 3,203 compared with 3,334 projects in the January-September 2015 period.

On the manufacturing sector, he said approved investments for the sector dropped 39% for the January-September period from the corresponding period last year.

He said the total investments approved in the manufacturing sector were mainly in petroleum products, including petrochemicals (RM9.4 billion), electronics and electrical products (RM7.3 billion), natural gas (RM3.7 billion) and food manufacturing (RM3.3 billion).

The others were investment for transport equipment (RM3 billion), basic metal products (RM3 billion), chemicals and chemical products (RM2.7 billion), non-metallic minerals (RM1.7 billion), and machinery and equipment (RM1.3 billion).

“These make up 87% of total approved investments for this sector.”

Mustapa said while the value of approved domestic investments dropped 57.8% to RM21.3 billion, foreign investments in the manufacturing sector increased 12.9% to RM19.4 billion during the period.

He said the leading sources of foreign investments were the Netherlands, China, the UK, Singapore and Japan.

“These five countries jointly accounted for 57% of total foreign investments approved in the manufacturing sector for the January-September period,” he added.

Meanwhile, he said the primary sector, comprising three main sub-sectors, namely agriculture, mining, and plantation and commodities, attracted investments worth RM1.7 billion for the January-September period.

He said domestic investments contributed RM1 billion, while investments by foreign sources totalled RM700,000.

Going forward, investment performance for 2017 would reflect the optimism of investors who continue to find Malaysia as a strategic location for their investments, he said.

He said recent trade and investment missions led by Prime Minister Najib Razak to Germany, China and Japan showed positive indication from the business communities there to invest in a wide range of manufacturing and services projects in Malaysia.

“In fact, the recent visit by the prime minister to China was very successful with the signing of 14 agreements worth RM144 billion in various areas such as tourism, infrastructure, manufacturing and research and development,” he added.

The minister said while Malaysia also sought greater market access through bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, the government placed emphasis on protecting the interests of the country’s economy and the well-being of the people.

“We continue our efforts in developing the industrial ecosystems in the country and encourage domestic players to move up the value chain.

“To thrive in today’s challenging and fast-paced business climate, we must stay ahead of the game, and continue to expand and diversify our trade with the world,” he added.