Funding from FDI to create high-skilled jobs in Malaysia

Malaysia recently facilitated the commitment by eight international venture capital fund managers together with the government to invest up to RM1.57 billion (US$389.4 million) into Malaysian startups in the fields of fintech, edutech, agritech, mobility and AI to create 1,800 high-skilled jobs, said finance minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. 

He said Malaysia continued to attract foreign direct investments (FDI) and domestic direct investments (DDI), totaling RM109.8 billion (US$27.2 billion) in approved investments to fund close to 3,000 projects in the manufacturing, services and primary sectors for the first nine months of 2020. 

He said 59.5% (RM65.3 billion, US$16.2 billion) was from the manufacturing sector, 39% (RM42.8 billion, US$10.6 billion) from the services sector, and 1.5% (RM1.7 billion, US$421.7 million) from the primary sector. 

Separately, Zafrul said the government is targeting to create 500,000 jobs this year, which is one of the top priorities under its 2021 budget, according to The Edge Markets. 

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“For this, apart from RM3.7 billion (US$917.8 million) allocated under the JanaKerja (Employment Generation Guarantee Scheme) initiative, which includes hiring incentives, reskilling and upskilling and short-term employment in the public sector and among GLCs, it is equally important to note that this is the first time in Malaysia’s history that the government has set up a National Employment Council, chaired by the Prime Minister himself, and with participation from relevant ministries such as MOF, Education, Higher Education and Human Resource. 

“This shows seriousness on the part of the government to generate employment,” he said.