KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has attracted RM16.52 billion worth of new investments from its trade mission in the United States (US) said Senior Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
"We hope that these commitments to investments can be finalised in the third quarter so there will be job opportunities for Malaysians," he said during a briefing on the Trade and Investment Promotion Mission to the United States today
Insulet, Ferrotec, Amazon Web Services Inc (AWS) and Cue Health are some of the companies that have given their commitment to investments.
Additional investments were from seasoned investors including Texas Instruments and Boston Scientific.
The 10-day Trade and Investment Mission, which kicked off on May 9 that was led by Azmin centred on innovative and high value-added new sectors.
The semiconductor industry, digital economy and medical devices were among the highlights in line with the National Investment Aspirations which focuses on high-quality investments and cutting edge technology.
Azmin said the companies were also committed to creating a business ecosystem, ensuring technology transfer and involvement of local industries, especially small and medium enterprises, in supply chains.
"Their investments will generate jobs, provide skills training opportunities for local workers, establish collaborations with local universities and help to develop local vendors," he said.
The US is now Malaysia's third largest global trade partner and export destination, while Malaysia is the US' 17th largest trade partner.
"The total export potential to the USD is at RM1.44 billion," added Azmin.
He further said despite the challenging global economy and economic uncertainties following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, total trade between the two countries increased by 21.4 per cent year-on-year to RM217.10 billion (USD$52.37 billion) in 2021.
Malaysia's exports to the US rose by 30.4 per cent to RM142.20 billion (US$34.31 billion), with the main exports comprising electrical and electronic (E&E) products and rubber-based products.
Imports from the US also increased by 7.4 per cent to RM74.87 billion (US$18.06 billion), including E&E and steel products.
Asked about the meeting between Elon Musk and Indonesian President Jokowi Widodo on Tesla's investment potential in Indonesia, Azmin said that the cooperation between Starlink and Malaysia was proof Malaysia was able to attract high-quality investors.
"We cannot stop any country that wants to intensify efforts to attract investment to their country.
"Of course, we hope the giant companies will continue to support Malaysia. We have certain strategies that we have in place to involve high-quality investments.
"Apart from being a pioneer for electric vehicle (EV) companies, he (Elon) is also a pioneer in space technology and important technologies, in fact my visit to SpaceX gave new hope that they are committed to investing here," he said.