GEORGE TOWN: Penang attracted another RM1.5 billion in investments in the manufacturing sector in the third quarter of the year, on top of the RM10 billion recorded earlier this year in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest investments for the period between July and September were fuelled by domestic direct investments (DDIs), taking up 73% or RM1.1 billion, while foreign direct investments (FDIs) stood at RM401.9 million.
According to state investment agency InvestPenang, projects by local companies such as Federal Oats Mills, Iconic Medicare, Straits Orthopaedics and ViTrox Technologies have boosted domestic investment in the state to RM1.8 billion in the first nine months of the year.
InvestPenang said the latest domestic investments represented a 42% increase in the first nine months of the year over the same period last year.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that while the state was happy, he felt “cautiously optimistic” about the numbers amid the increasing challenges posed by the pandemic.
In a statement, he said last year’s record-breaking investment of RM16.9 billion would be tough to match this year.
