MALAYSIA ATTRACTED RM33.4 BLN IN FDI FOR FIRST 7 MONTHS OF 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia managed to chalk up approved
foreign direct investment of RM33.4 billion in just the first seven months of
this year compared with RM32.5 billion for the whole of last year, said
Malaysian Industrial Development Authority's (MIDA) director general, Jalilah
Baba.

Based on these figures, "Malaysia is not losing out its investment
competitiveness. About 75 percent of these projects have already been
implemented while the rest of the approved investments are in various stages of
implementation," she said.

She also said that MIDA plans to open up seven more offices worldwide to
woo
investments as well as to facilitate cross border investments by local companies
overseas.

Among the cities in which it plans to open offices are Houston, Bangkok,
Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City, Johannesburg, Beijing and Munich. Now, MIDA has 19
offices, she told a media networking event here, Monday.