Malaysia Records RM139.5 Billion Realised Private Investment In 2012, Surpasses Target

17 Rabiulakhir 1434

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 , 2013- Malaysia recorded RM139.5 billion in realised private investment last year, surpassing by 9.1 per cent the targeted investment of RM127.9 billion, Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said Wednesday.

Compared with 2011,the realised private investment grew 24.8 per cent from RM111.8 billion, he said.

Unveiling the investment performance for 2012, Mustapa said Malaysia attracted RM162.4 billion in approved investments last year, which was also the highest amount of investments ever despite the uncertain global economic conditions.

"Of the total investments approved, RM127.6 billion (78 percent) were contributed by domestic investments (DDI) and RM34.8 billion (22 percent) came from foreign investments.

"It is heartening to note that domestic investment inflows increased substantially by almost four times the FDIs achieved in 2012, a sure sign of confidence local business have in the country's ability to prosper its investors" he told reporters here Wednesday.

Of this, Mustapa said services accounted for 72.4 percent, manufacturing was 25.3 percent while primary sectors were at 2.3 percent.

"Much of 2012's investments were in the new and emerging technologies, particularly within the aerospace, semiconductors, solar, machinery and equipment, biotechnology, petroleum and petrochemical products and medical devices industries as well as the oil and gas services sector," the minister said.

The investments approved were in 6,442 projects and are expected to generate 182,841 job opportunities.

When asked whether the trend of declining FDI and increasing DDI would sustain in the coming years, he said last year was a bad year for FDI not only for Malaysia but also globally with some developed countries facing a recession while some Asian economies were experiencing lower growth.

"We believe there will be some recovery in the global economy. Europe and America will help to push the FDI numbers somewhat, so that's our expectation. We are expecting at least US$12 billion in terms of FDI this year, same as last year, with some recovery in electrical and electronics (E&E), which will certainly contribute to FDI this year," he said.

However, Mustapa said the DDI and FDI ratio which was about 78 and 22 percent respectively, was in line with the government's goal under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) in encouraging DDI to take the lead in driving the country's economic transformation on the back of global economic uncertainties.

As for this year's target, Mustapa said the government is looking at a similar 20 percent growth for private investment as reflected in realised investment and approved investment last year which grew by more than 20 percent.

Asked whether the upcoming election will affect the private investment numbers this year, he said that will not be the case.

"As we saw, last year was also rumoured to be an election year but we have done extremely well. From my conversation with investors, nobody is witholding this year's investment decisions. You can see it in Iskandar Malaysia, Medini as well as the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park (MCKIP), where there is continued foreign investment interest," he said.

Mustapa said Malaysia's reputation as a global and regional hub for manufacturing and services, has managed to attract investments that will accelerate the country's shift to high value-added, high technology, knowledge-intensive and innovation-based industries.

More information: BERNAMA

Golden Palm Growers Scheme Well Planned

2 Rabiulakhir 1434

GUA MUSANG, Feb 10 , 2013- The Golden Palm Growers Scheme has been well planned and will not be affected by problems faced by other similar agricultural based investment schemes, said the Executive Chairman of Golden Palm Growers Bhd, Andrew Phang.

"Our plantation in Gua Musang has been moving according to plan and will move forward as promised.

"All schemes are different, every scheme is structured very differently and our business model is structured to reflect the stage of growth of the trees.

"We will pay to investors the returns when the trees start to give commercial yields in six years time which is 2016 and that way we never had a mismatch between revenue and our payout to investors," he told Bernama during a tour of the company's estate here.

While the company's plantations may have similar external problems as what other plantations face, but with proper management, these obstacles could be overcome, he said.

Golden Palm Growers since 2010 has been involved in the oil palm plantation business, in particular the development and subsequent management of oil palm plantations.

It operates an oil palm plantation of approximately 4,550 hectares in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

A total of 44,000 growers' plots have been created in the plantation where each plot is about a quarter acre and costs RM9,600 per plot.

Under the scheme, investors could regain a guaranteed return of six per cent per annum plus a bonus for up to 2016.

More information: BERNAMA

10 More Companies Will Be Disposed

2 Jamadilakhir 1433

PUTRAJAYA, April 23, 2012 - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced the disposal of another 10 companies -- five under the Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) stable and another five subsidiaries of Khazanah Nasional Bhd.

The disposal was to enable all the companies to be handed back to Bumiputera companies through open tenders, said Najib, who is also Finance Minister.

The decision was made at the two-hour Bumiputera Agenda Action Council meeting chaired by Najib, here Monday.

The prime minister said the decision would facilitate PNB, Malaysia's biggest fund manager, and Khazanah, the government's investment arm, to dispose non-core businesses besides providing the opportunity to potential and proven track record Bumiputera firms to take over the companies to develop them further.

More information : BERNAMA

PNB To Hold Unit Trust Week In Kota Kinabalu From April 20

 14 Jamadilawal 1433

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5,2012- The 13th edition of the Unit Trust Week Malaysia (MSAM) will begin at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex, Sabah, in a fortnight.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is expected to declare open the Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) annual fair on April 20 while Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin attend the closing ceremony on April 28.

The nine-day event was expected to draw 20,000 visitors, PNB President/CEO Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman said here Thursday.

Source- BERNAMA