Kuala Lumpur (VNA) -𒁏 Malaysia has secured 186.7 billion RM (46.7 billion USD) in approved investments in manufacturing, services and primary sectors last year, exceeding the average annual investment target of 148 billion RM set under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

The investment, however, was 21 percent lower compared with the previous year’s figure, due to global economic headwinds exacerbated by the drop in oil and commodity prices, as well as, the stronger US dollar. Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan was quoted by Malaysia’s Bernama News Agency on February 29 as saying that about 4,887 projects were approved by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) last year. He said of the total investment wooed during 2015, Malaysia has attracted a total of 39.5 billion RM foreign direct investment (FDI), up by 11.8 percent against 2014. Investments in the services sectors remained the largest contributor to overall investments in 2015. The manufacturing sector attracted 74.7 billion RM worth of investments with 680 new projects against 71.9 billion RM in 811 projects in 2014. "For 2016, we will try to do better than the benchmark set but we have to be realistic given the uncertain global economic scenario and the decline in commodity prices," MIDA Chief Executive Officer Datuk Azman Mahmud told a press conference later. As of February 2016, approved investments, in the pipeline, stood at 33 billion RM with the manufacturing sector accounting for 24 billion RM and the services sector the remaining 9.8 billion RM. He said major FDIs for this year is expected from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China and Japan.-VNA