UOB Malaysia expects investments to regain momentum next year

UOB Malaysia expects investments to regain momentum next year

05 Oct 2020

United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) expects overall investments in Malaysia to regain momentum between 2021 and 2022.

The bank said this would be driven by the government’s focus on reviving the investment climate and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority’s (Mida) ongoing efforts to lure and expedite investment approval process, as well as business opportunities emerging from a post-pandemic new normal and gradual economic recovery.

“The Project Acceleration and Coordination Unit (PACU) has been established in Mida to facilitate the approval of businesses, particularly manufacturing and related services and to ensure that the implementation of approved projects is successful within 24 months,” it said in its note today.

As of July 2020, Mida has a total of 732 projects with proposed investments of RM35.9 billion in the pipeline for the manufacturing, services and primary sectors, and the actualisation of these investment approvals could help jump-start private investments in 2021-2022, said UOB Malaysia.

“Despite the ongoing pandemic effects and downside risks to the global and Malaysia’s economic outlook, year-to-date investment approvals have already hit 64.8 per cent of our 2020 full-year target of RM100 billion,” it added.

Meanwhile, total approved investments in the primary, manufacturing and services sectors stood at RM64.8 billion in first half of 2020 — 38.4 per cent year-on-year lower due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Of the total investments approved during the period, approximately 69.8 per cent or RM45.3 billion were domestic investments while the remaining 30.2 per cent or RM19.5 billion were foreign investments.

Additionally, manufacturing investment approvals overtook services investment approvals for the first time since 2010, while primary investment approvals hit a record low, added UOB Malaysia.

Source: Bernama