KL's manufacturing investment drops

KL's manufacturing investment drops

KUALA LUMPUR: Manufacturing investment in Malaysia shrank 36 percent year-on-year in 2002 but applications were still flooding in, Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said Saturday.

Rafidah said 663 projects were approved last year with investments totaling 16.53 billion ringgit (US$4.34 billion), down from 928 projects worth 25.77 billion ringgit approved in 2001.

Approved foreign investment in 2002 dropped 41 percent from a year earlier to 11.20 billion ringgit, while domestic investment fell 22 percent to 5.33 billion ringgit, according to official data.

Rafidah attributed the sharp drop to several proposed big projects that were put on hold pending further details from the companies.

But she noted that total proposed investments rose 13.7 percent year-on-year to 18.79 billion ringgit for 841 projects, compared to 837 applications worth 16.5 billion ringgit in 2001. --AFP