GEORGE TOWN, Oct 20 — Penang topped the national list in approved investments of RM7.7 billion in the manufacturing sector for the first half of 2017.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the total approved investments for the first half of this year surpassed the total investments in the sector last year.

“The RM7.7 billion approved investments in the first half of this year is more than the RM4.3 billion investments recorded for the whole of 2016, placing Penang as the top state with the highest amount of approved investments in the manufacturing sector,” he told a news conference at his office here today.

He said this outstanding performance that propelled the state to top the list bodes well for the next half of the year.

“This gives us hope that Penang can get higher amount of investments in the second half of this year,” he said.

Lim was referring to an announcement by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed on total investments in the country for the first half of this year.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) released that a total of 302 manufacturing projects with  investments valued at RM17 billion were approved in the first half of 2017.

This is a drop in comparison to 372 projects with RM20.6 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The decrease in investment in that sector was attributed to various factors such as the decrease in the value of greenfield foreign direct investments globally.

Lim noted that Penang’s total approved investments contributed 45 per cent of the total RM17 billion investments approved nationwide.

Source: Malay Mail Online

BY OPALYN MOK