The Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti) ended a one-day investment mission to Singapore with RM2.8 billion in pledged Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz met with officials from famous global digital infrastructure business Equinix and an unnamed international food manufacturing company and successfully obtained the committed FDI.
Equinix interconnects is a market-leading company in a digital-first era. With its global reach, the company assists organizations in gaining a competitive advantage in digital enablers such as cloud, networking, storage, computing, and software.
Equinix presently has 52 data centers across 13 locations in the Asia-Pacific area, including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, according to Miti.
It stated that the company intends to use its experience by establishing network-dense data centers in Johor and Kuala Lumpur to provide an interconnected platform with access to many of the international and regional networks that connect Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, the international food manufacturing company, which already has a foothold in Malaysia, intends to grow and diversify its product offering.
According to the statement, the company will establish a cutting-edge facility with an advanced manufacturing line, powered by Industry 4.0 enablers such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics, for the production of integrated food ingredients.
Miti is glad that these enterprises have selected Malaysia to establish or extend their operations, according to Tengku Zafrul.
He stated that the pledged FDI of RM2.8 billion is yet another validation of Malaysia's efforts to ease the investor's path and facilitate the realisation of their investments.
"This is an excellent start to the year, and Miti, in collaboration with the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida), will be more strategic in attracting the right investments from increased inflows into Asean countries."
"These investments must not only grow Malaysia's economy but must also develop the country's small and medium enterprises (SME) and create jobs for the people," he added in a statement.
Singapore views Malaysia as a highly attractive investment destination because of its rule of law, important regional location, trainable workforce, and vital role in regional and global supply networks.
Between January and September 2023, Singapore authorised investment projects worth RM20.4 billion, cementing Singapore's position as the second-largest FDI source during this time period. The investment trip, which was attended by senior officials from Miti and the Mida, represents a watershed moment in Malaysia's quest to become a high-tech, global innovation hub.