KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign direct investments (FDIs) in Malaysia leaped to RM17.1bil for the period from January to September 2010 compared to just RM5bil recorded for the whole of last year, International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mustapa Mohamed said on Saturday.

We hope to achieve at least RM20bil in FDIs by end of the year. It is hard to estimate but we hope the momentum can sustain for the rest of the year, he said after delivering a keynote address at the annual Young Corporate Malaysians Summit here.

He said the amount was a clear reflection of increase in confidence in the Malaysian economy.

The various initiatives taken by the government to transform the economy have gone down well with the investor community and money is coming back into the country.

Malaysia recorded a higher net inflow of RM6.2bil for the third quarter of 2010, compared with RM5.1bil and RM5.9bil recorded in the first and second quarter respectively.

The investments in the third quarter were mainly in the finance and insurance, manufacturing and oil and gas sectors, he said, dismissing suggestions that the 81% drop in FDI last year was due to the Government's poor governance.

Mustapa said the government would promote Malaysia more aggressively as more and more foreigners were interested to invest in the country.

As the growth in Asean picks up, it would provide a lot of opportunities in the region in terms of trade, business and tourism, he said.

He said many Malaysian companies had also begun to venture into opportunites around the region and were benefitting from the process of trade with the flow of people and connectivity generated.

- Bernama