KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia approved RM190.3bil in investments across services, manufacturing and primary sectors in the first half of 2025, says Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
The International Trade and Industry Minister said manufacturing contributed RM68.4bil, or 36% of total approved investments.
“In an increasingly competitive global environment, high quality investments drive sustainable growth and Malaysia’s competitiveness,” he said on Monday (Nov 17).
He said the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 prioritises high value added, technology intensive, digital, sustainable and globally competitive projects.
Zafrul added that NIMP 2030 sectors attracted RM29.2bil, or 42.7% of total manufacturing investments.
These sectors include electrical and electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, aerospace and medical devices, and Zafrul said that the RM29.2bil involves 178 projects with potential to create 17,056 jobs.
He said capital investment per employee in these sectors averaged RM1.7mil per job.
Zafrul said this is over 12 times the RM140,000 minimum benchmark and reflects strong capital and technology intensity.
He highlighted 21,896 high-income opportunities in management, technical and supervisory roles out of 46,690 potential manufacturing positions.
Zafrul added that within NIMP sectors alone, 8,241 positions, or 48.3%, are high-income roles.
He said this is nearly double the 25% skilled labour requirement, also saying value added levels remain strong in NIMP linked sectors.
Zafrul cited aerospace at 65.6%, medical devices at 61.9% and chemicals at 58%, above the 40% threshold.
He said this signals deepening industrial complexity and stronger domestic value chains.
“Overall, Malaysia is attracting high quality investments that create high value jobs and reinforce local supply chains,” he said.
He said the results reflect effective policies to keep growth sustainable, inclusive and competitive.