Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia's new approved direct investments inthe services, manufacturing and primary sectors rose 17.7 percent year-on-yearto 80.2 billion ringgit (about 19.18 billion USD) in the first half of 2018,according to data released by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority(MIDA) on October 29.

The MIDA said that the money comes from 2,346 projects which are expected togenerate 60,181 job opportunities for Malaysians.

The domestic investments whichcontribute 67 percent to the total approved investments, expanded 10.5 percentyear-on-year to 53.7 billion ringgit.

Meanwhile, foreign investments grew35.3 percent year-on-year to 26.5 billion ringgit, mainly driven by investmentsin the manufacturing and primary sectors.

The services sector remains a keydriver, with its approved investments standing at 50.9 billion ringgit.

The approved investments for themanufacturing industry increased 21.2 percent year-on-year to 20.2 billionringgit.

The foreign investments in approved manufacturing projects surged 63.1 percent annuallyto 15.2 billion ringgit, mainly from Chinese investment which amounted to 6.5billion ringgit, or 43 percent of the total.

Earlier, the Bernama news agency quoted a source from the World Bank (WB) assaying that Malaysia will become a high-income country in the period of 2020and 2024.

Malaysia’s economy is forecast to grow 4.7 percent next year and 4.6 percent in2020, despite challenges. In 2018, the Southeast Asian country’s economy willexpand 4.9 percent thanks to a sharp increase in private consumption. The nationposted an economic growth of 5.9 percent last year.-VNA