KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's approved investments rose 11.7 percent year-on-year to 218.5 billion ringgit (about 54.27 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, driven by growth in the services sector, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said on Friday.
The investments involved 2,746 projects across the services, manufacturing and primary sectors and are expected to create 99,030 jobs once fully implemented, MIDA said in a statement.
Foreign investments rose 18.5 percent year-on-year to 126.9 billion ringgit, accounting for 58.1 percent of total approved investments. Domestic investments increased 3.5 percent to 91.6 billion ringgit, representing the remaining 41.9 percent.
The U.S. was the largest source of approved foreign investment at 33.1 billion ringgit, followed by Singapore at 25.9 billion ringgit.
The services sector attracted the largest share of approved investments, rising 21 percent to 149.6 billion ringgit. Approved investments in the manufacturing sector, however, fell 25.1 percent to 51.3 billion ringgit.
Meanwhile, approved investments in the primary sector surged 414 percent to 17.6 billion ringgit. ■