MITI 3Q REPORT HIGHLIGHTS STRONG EXPORT, DIGITAL INVESTMENT GROWTH

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 13 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's economy continues to demonstrate strong resilience, with positive growth seen in exports and digital investments under the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) 2030.

Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said there has been a significant improvement in electrical and electronics exports, which grew by 16.7 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) in the first nine months of the year. 

Other export sectors also recorded growth: the machinery, equipment and parts sector increased by 14.4 per cent y-o-y, pharmaceutical products rose by 24.7 per cent y-o-y and optical and scientific equipment expanded by 5.1 per cent y-o-y. 

"All of them have shown positive growth, which goes to show that we follow through, our policies are turned into action," he said during the presentation of the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry's (MITI) report card for the third quarter of 2025.

As for the services sector, Tengku Zafrul said the total services trade stood at RM497.4 billion in 2024, up 14.6 per cent y-o-y compared to 2023. 

Exports of services rose 24.6 per cent y-o-y to RM242.9 billion, while imports of services increased 6.5 per cent y-o-y to RM254.5 billion.

The services trade balance also showed significant improvement, with the deficit narrowing to RM11.7 billion compared to RM44 billion in 2023, driven by the tourism and business services sectors. 

Tengku Zafrul said to reduce the deficit and boost exports, Malaysia must focus on sectors with high potential, such as tourism (including health tourism), manufacturing, professional services and consulting, as well as audiovisual construction and finance. 

Meanwhile, he noted that digital investments have been on an upward trend since 2021, with approved investments between 2021 and the first half of 2025 totalling RM335.3 billion.

The minister added that 105,486 job opportunities were created through digital investments, with data centre-related projects making up RM235.1 billion (70.1 per cent) of approved digital investments. 

On Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ), Tengku Zafrul said the economic zone represents 66.2 per cent of Johor’s overall approved investment of RM56 billion. 

-- BERNAMA