Zainal (right) and InvestKL chairman Datuk Seri Michael Yam (left) are seen during the press conference yesterday.
KUCHING: InvestKL has successfully attracted 12 innovative global multinational companies (MNCs), with approved and committed investment of RM2.3 billion while creating 1,399 jobs in 2018.
Its chief executive officer Datuk Zainal Amanshah said the achievement brings the total MNCs that have been successfully attracted to 78 since 2011, with approved and committed investments of RM11.7 billion, as well as the creation of 11,693 regional high-skilled jobs.
“In the seven years from 2011-2018, RM6.63 billion or 57 per cent of the RM11.7 billion investments have been realised.
“In addition, 7,516 or 64 per cent of 11,693 high skilled regional jobs are already on the payroll.
“Of these 7,516 jobs, 80 per cent employed are Malaysians with an average annual income of RM110,124 or US$26,610 (based on the exchange rate of US$1-RM4.13),” he told a media briefing on InvestKL’s 2018 performance yesterday.
The 12 MNCs are Fortune 500 companies, namely Orange (France), MetLife (the US), Electrolux (Sweden), EY (UK), Accenture (Ireland), Persolkelly (Japan/US), China Pacific Construction Group, Wood (UK), as well as hidden champions such as Pickles Auctions (Australia), United Imaging (China), and Bertling (Germany); and Zalora (Germany).
For 2019, InvestKL’s target is to attract 13 MNCs, with a focus on those from the US, Europe, China, Japan and South Korea.
“These countries are strong in the six sectors that we are pursuing. These sectors are smart technologies, consumer technologies, e-commerce, medical devices, industrial automation, as well as energy and renewables.
“InvestKL remains focused on attracting high-value, high-skilled and innovation-led investments to create quality jobs for Malaysians. Despite a slower global economy and the US–China trade tensions, our investment pipeline is resilient as investment decisions are made over a longer period,” he added.
Zainal said that investors are positive about Industry 4.0 which aims to make Malaysia the prime destination for manufacturing and services.
The initiative’s blueprint outlines concrete measures and enhances the country’s value propositions to investors in areas such as artificial intelligence, big data analytics, Internet of Things, cloud computing and cybersecurity.
“The government is committed to strengthening ecosystems around Industry 4.0. Certainly, investors welcome the RM5 billion allocated under Budget 2019 to support measures to accelerate the adoption of Industry 4.0 especially in areas of talent development, research & development, and encouraging industries to utilise artificial intelligence.
“InvestKL continues to support these initiatives in two areas – talent, and small and medium enterprise (SME) development,” he said.
For talent, Zainal said InvestKL has nurtured locals to be global corporate leaders under the Malaysia Global Talent (MGT) programme, which was launched last year in order to facilitate programmes that enhance local talents’ skill sets to be on par with global standards.
He said the scale of the MNCs’ capabilities, the rapid developments, and the sharing of knowledge and best practices will prepare Malaysian talent for the future of work with the MNCs.
“For SMEs, we will be actively promoting the collaborations with the MNCs. The aim is to empower these SMEs to move up the value chain and eventually scale out of Malaysia. These partnerships will complement the government’s initiatives to help these firms build ‘deep enterprise’ mindset and capabilities,” he said.