KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): The government has designated domestic direct investment (DDI) as one of the key performance indicators (KPIs) for national investment achievements.

This aligns with the government's bid to implement reforms to make Malaysia among the 12 best economies in the world in terms of competitiveness and ease of doing business to reinforce the country as an investment destination, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in his speech at the launch of the Ekonomi Madani plan here on Thursday (July 27).

To draw more investors towards Malaysia, the government will focus on strengthening investment promotion agencies under the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), so that they facilitate investors' affairs more proactively.

The government will also review incentives to focus on investments that are capable of generating high-income jobs and use local resources, and upgrade industrial areas with full facilities and increase human capital development to fulfil the needs of investors.

The industrial areas include the petrochemicals sector in Kerteh, Terengganu, data centres in Sedenak, Johor, and downstream rubber activities in Kuala Nerang, Kedah.

For starters, the government will allocate RM100 million to upgrade these industrial areas, especially with sustainable infrastructure.

Anwar said there is a need to internationalise start-ups and local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Towards that end, government-linked companies and government-linked investment companies will continue to drive DDI, and support local vendor development in strategic sectors like electrical and electronic, the digital economy and aerospace.

In addition, the government will also increase funding to spur export growth through the Mid-Tier Companies Development Programme (MTCDP), as well as the Market Development Grants (MDGs) led by Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) with additional provisions of RM20 million.

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