KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — Malaysia’s foreign direct investment (FDI) reached a record 900 billion ringgit (193.7 billion U.S. dollars) in the second quarter of 2023, an increase of 6.8 billion ringgit (1.46 billion U.S. dollars) from the first quarter, official data showed Friday.
The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the services sector remained the largest recipient with 49.4 percent.
It was followed by the manufacturing sector and the mining and quarrying sector.
The FDIs were largely from Singapore with 21.3 percent, the United States with 11.3 percent, and China’s Hong Kong with 10.8 percent.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s direct investment abroad increased to 652.1 billion ringgit in the second quarter as compared to 617 billion ringgit in the first quarter.
The top three destinations were Singapore with 21.7 percent, followed by Indonesia with 10.6 percent, and the Netherlands with 6.2 percent. (1 ringgit equals 0.22 U.S. dollar)