PETALING JAYA (Dec 7): Malaysia is now a country where foreign direct investment (FDI) entities are looking at investing in manufacturing, as their focus has shifted, revealed Investment, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong.
He said this in his special ministerial keynote address on the "National Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030: Malaysia's New Economic Takeoff" at the CEO Series 2023 Economy & Business Forum, organised by Rehda Institute on Thursday at Le Meridien Hotel, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
"[The focus] used to be efficiency and cost (and that's why many manufacturing factories are in China). But now, efficiency and cost are balanced with the idea of resilience, or a second supply chain," Liew added.
The forum was attended by more than 350 key senior stakeholders from the government and private sectors.
Liew's optimism was supported by the recent announcement that Malaysia is the second outperforming country with about US$28 billion worth of greenfield FDI projects pledged from January to August 2023, more than double than the annual average recorded in the decade before the pandemic.
Also, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) announced on Wednesday (Dec 6) that Malaysia's investment performance achieved an all-time high at RM225 billion of total approved investments for the first nine months of this year (9M2023) — contributed mainly by services (RM117.7 billion), manufacturing (RM99.8 billion) and primary (RM7.5 billion) sectors.
Meanwhile, for the New Industrial Master Plan 2023 (NIMP 2023), the macroeconomic targets for the manufacturing sector (impact based) is to reach a gross domestic product of RM587.5 billion; an employment of 3.3 million persons, and a median salary of RM4,510 per month. These will be driven via six engines of growth in which high-quality investments are needed.
These engines of growth are reindustrialisation, green transition, tech up, good life, services and empowering regions. Good life refers to world-class infrastructure and public services, which includes investing in better healthcare, health-related manufacturing and services, mobility, better livable cities, food security and social protection, as well as job-led consumption growth.
"There are paradigm shifts for an agile, resilient and thriving Malaysia. It is about maximising the indispensable middle position of Malaysia in the global supply chain; shifting from land/resource-based to tech-based capital, and from real estate to real sectors; shifting from labour-intensive to valuing and paying for skills; and from a low-wage workforce to a resilient middle class society; as well as putting climate at the centre of economic consideration," he concluded.