KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said Wednesday that the country's approved investment in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors in the first quarter surged 95.6 percent despite the unprecedented economic challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The approved investment rose to 80.6 billion ringgit (about 19.57 billion U.S. dollars) from 41.2 billion ringgit a year ago, involving 993 projects and are expected to generate 32,557 job opportunities, the MIDA said in a statement.
According to the MIDA, the total approved foreign direct investments (FDI) in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors jumped 383.4 percent to 54.9 billion ringgit in the first quarter, from 11.4 billion ringgit a year ago.
Meanwhile, domestic direct investments made up the rest of 25.7 billion ringgit, contributing 31.9 percent to the total approved investments in all the three sectors.
Overall, the manufacturing sector led the investments for the first quarter, with total approved investments soaring 126.8 percent year on year to 58.8 billion ringgit.
FDI accounted for 88.9 percent of the total approved investments in the manufacturing sector. Enditem