German firms in M’sia plan to increase investments

PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian-german Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MGCC) says that 50% of German firms in Malaysia surveyed plan to increase spending on local investments within the next year to develop their businesses.

In a statement yesterday, MGCC said German companies will continue to grow their presence in Malaysia, further reinforcing the two countries’ robust trade relations despite a gloomy global economic forecast for 2023, according to the latest AHK World Business Outlook Fall 2022 survey results.

Executive director Daniel Bernbeck said the survey results continued to demonstrate that Malaysia had plenty to offer German companies including an investor-friendly environment, a skilled workforce and a broad and strong supplier network.

“It is promising to see an indication of job creation and preparedness to increase expenditure to grow their presence in the country.

“These signal strong recovery and resilience after two years of disruptions due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Bernbeck also said as representatives of German industry and trade in Malaysia, MGCC was happy to hear that these companies were planning long-term investments in Malaysia.

“This confidence from foreign investors will facilitate economic growth that will further propel Malaysia’s position as an ideal place to do business in the region,” he added.

In addition, companies said they would hire more talent and increase expenditure to develop their businesses in 2023.

Further, 66.7% of the respondents expect the economic situation in Malaysia to stay the same.

He also stated that the top three concerns for German businesses in the coming year were labour shortages (58.3%), rising commodity prices (54.2%) and continued supply chain disruptions (50%).

The statement said global supply chain disruption will continue to be a hurdle for companies and in order to cushion the impact, 65.2% have rolled out plans to look for new or additional suppliers.

Meanwhile, 81% said Asia Pacific, excluding China, was their go-to region to source for new suppliers, while 61.9% preferred to look within Malaysia specifically.