KUALA LUMPUR:Malaysia continues to be a preferred investment destination by the international business community despite the challenging global economic environment with Johor being one of the top recipients of these investments, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said.

Deputy chief executive officer Ahmad Khairuddin Abdul Rahim said as at December 2019, there were 4,764 manufacturing projects implemented in Johor with investments totalling RM166 billion.

“More than half of these investments worth RM88.4 billion were from foreign sources.

“These projects have been instrumental in creating over 502,700 jobs, mainly in the fields of petroleum products, including petrochemicals, electrical and electronics (EE) products, food manufacturing, basic metal products, as well as chemical and chemical products,” he said.

Ahmad Khairuddin said this in his speech during a webinar titled “Invest Series: Unfolding States’ Business Potential, A Briefing By Johor State Government” today.

Besides that, he said in the first half-year of 2020, Johor once again emerged among the top states, recording 89 manufacturing projects with the highest approved total investments of RM3.6 billion.

“We are happy to see notable companies leveraging Johor’s well-established infrastructure and network of experienced support services infrastructure,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Khairuddin said the COVID-19 pandemic has compelled businesses, both big and small, to rethink their business models.

However, he said the new normal had also presented opportunities to find innovative ways to prioritise operational efficiency and build resilience by strategically leveraging effective digital technologies.

“Hence, we urge our local companies to invest in upgrading their capabilities and adopt higher automation and digitalisation,” he said.

He said MIDA has introduced the Lighthouse initiative, a concept of modelling global multinational companies (MNCs) that have embraced digital manufacturing and globalisation 4.0 in their business model and entire supply chain.

“We hope that more local companies will be integrated into similar lighthouse operations and become trusted suppliers of MNCs’ supply chain networks,” he said.

He said Malaysia undeniably has the right mix of competitive advantages to be prominent global supply chain hub with its strategic location, efficient trade infrastructure, well-connected business ecosystem and talented workforce offering exciting opportunities for companies to leverage upon as they do business with ASEAN and beyond.

“But to continue being the preferred investment destination in the region, public and private collaborations need to be effectively deployed and harnessed, whereby industry players need to step-up to fully utilise all available programmes and facilities provided by the government," he added.

-- BERNAMA