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Jakarta Post

Selangor looks to increase foreign investment

In the Doing Business 2020 report released by the World Bank, Malaysia placed 12th out of all countries surveyed in the ease of doing business ranking.

Inforial (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, August 18, 2022

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Selangor looks to increase foreign investment

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n the Doing Business 2020 report released by the World Bank, Malaysia placed 12th out of all countries surveyed in the ease of doing business ranking. The country brought in US$336.7 billion in GDP in 2020. According to a study commissioned by the Standard Chartered Bank, respondents see Asia as a growing region with over 85 percent operating and implementing business activities in the continent, including in Malaysia. One of the places highlighted has always been Selangor.

“Selangor boasts about 3.6 million workers who are largely skilled and multilingual, many of whom are university graduates. This is also another advantage to foreign companies, especially for those that are planning to use Selangor as their gateway to ASEAN markets,” added Dato Hasan Azhari, the CEO of Invest Selangor Berhad.

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The state government of Selangor is hosting the second Selangor Industrial Park Expo (SPARK) to showcase the city as the preferred destination for investment. The four-day event will exhibit the latest industrial park products and developments while visitors will get opportunities to exchange ideas and connect with key decision makers across the region.

“From 2017 to 2021, Selangor was in the forefront annually and received a total of 1,329 investment projects with a total capital investment of 67.5 billion ringgit [US$15 billion]. These projects brought in a total of 83,934 employment opportunities in the manufacturing sector in Selangor,” said Dato Hasan Azhari.

The Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) recorded that as much as 72.7 percent of the approved investments in 2022 were foreign direct investments. Therefore, through programs such as SPARK, Selangor has intensified its promotional engagement in order to bring more investors. This is also in line with the government’s plans toward economic recovery after the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of the digital economy and logistics services in Selangor. The state aims to fully exploit these fast-growing industries, attracting more investment into the state leveraging the already matured ecosystem,” he said.

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Invest Selangor has been working closely with the Digital Investment Office (DIO), formed by MIDA and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), to further increase digital investment into the state with multiple initiatives. These activities are also supported by the Malaysian federal government, which is ready to bounce back from the economic challenges brought on by the pandemic.

“Invest Selangor Berhad regularly held FDI DDI Facilitating Meetings to facilitate business investment. Through these meetings, investors get to meet the relevant government agencies to get their issues addressed and be advised on necessary actions,” the Dato explained. “We believe in providing the best services to our current and potential investors in the state. And it is key for us to ensure that the project implementation facilitation process will not stop once the investors make the decision to invest in the state.”

Invest Selangor Berhad understands that bringing foreign investment is not enough to position Selangor as the leading business destination in Malaysia. The company believes that it is just as crucial to bolster the aftercare aspects of its services to foreign investors, in order to restore confidence and retain their presence. This is the belief that they will carry moving forward, as the state identifies new areas and sectors that will contribute to the expansion of Malaysia’s economy in the future.

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