-  According to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia recorded RM97.4bil in approved investments during 1H13 (or +30% YoY) as compared to RM75.0bil in the corresponding period in 2012.

-  A bulk of the approved investments came from the services sector which accounted for 59.7% (or RM58.1bil). Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector accounted for 23.1%(or RM22.5bil) while theprimary sector contributed 17.2% (or RM16.8bil).

-  Out of the total, domestic investments amounted to RM66.7bil (or 68.5%) while foreign investments stood at RM30.7bil.

-  In the services segment, domestic investments continued to dominate with total investments of RM50.2bil whereas foreign investments doubled to RM7.9bil in 1H13 vs. RM3.8bil in 1H12.

-  During the first six months of 2013, a total of 336 manufacturing projects were approved with total investments ofRM22.5bil. Of these, RM18.1bilwas derivedfrom new projects. Meanwhile, foreign investments in the manufacturing sub-segment amounted to RM14.2bil, of which RM11.3bil were from new projects.

-  For the manufacturing division, the approved investments mainly came from export-oriented industries. Among the various industries, the E&E segment had accounted for a significant 30% of total approved investments in manufacturing (RM6.7bil). Notably, investments in the E&E sector during1H13 hadexceeded the total investments of RM3.9bil which was approved for the whole year of 2012.

-  Aside from that, other major manufacturing industries with high approved investments during 1H13 include basic metal products (RM3.7bil); petroleum products (RM2.4bil); food manufacturing (RM1.9bil); transport equipment (RM1.7bil); and non-metallic mineral products (RM1.6bil).

-  Separately, investments in the primary sector had advanced to RM16.8bil (1H12: RM2.6bil). Investments were mainly from 22 projects involved in upstream oil and gas activities with total investments of RM16.6bil.Domestic investments had amounted to RM8.1bil while the remaining RM8.7bil was foreign.

-  Malaysia’s investment remained buoyant in 1H13 despite ongoing external uncertainties. Going forward into 2H13, we do expect a sustainable growth in investment as MIDA is currently negotiating on upcoming projects with potential investments of RM39.7bil for 2H13.

Source: AmeSecurities