FDI inflows down 12.8% in 2017

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s net inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 12.8% to RM41 billion in 2017 from RM47 billion in 2016, according to the Department of Statistics.

The FDI flows were mainly channelled in services sector, particularly in real estate, financial and insurance/takaful; and information and communication activities. Mining and quarrying was the second contributor, followed by manufacturing sector.

The top regions were from Asia with a share of 63.5%, followed by Europe and Africa. Within Asia, Hong Kong remained as the prominent investor country, while China overtook Singapore as the second largest contributor.

As at end-2017, the expansion of FDI position to RM570.3 billion from RM547.4 billion in 2016 was driven by the continuous inflows of FDI.

For 2017, Malaysia registered lower net direct investment abroad (DIA) flows of RM24.9 billion against RM33.2 billion in the previous year.

The investment abroad in 2017 was channelled mainly in services, mining and quarrying and manufacturing sectors.

Investment in services sector was primarily in financial and insurance/takaful; and real estate activities. In terms of region, Asia was the top destination for Malaysia’s DIA flows, contributing half of the investment with RM13.7 billion, followed by Americas and Europe.

For the Asian region, net DIA flows were mainly to Singapore and Indonesia, while Turkmenistan replaced India as the third largest destination.