International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said from January-July this year, approved investments in the E&E sector reached RM8.4 billion with 57 approved projects, surpassing the 2014 target of RM5.1 billion.

“Investments are encouraging this year compared with last year…this is a good sign that shows that our economy is expanding.

“The economic growth forecast of between 5.5 per cent and 6.0 per cent this year is very relevant given our exports and investments growth so far,” he said in a media briefing on the E&E sector here today.

Some of the high-impact projects approved include a diversification project in wafer fabrication involving an investment of RM3.2 billion and an expansion project estimated at RM1.5 billion for a high-end substrate plant.

Correspondingly, the sector have generated a total of 11,326 jobs in various skills categories for the January-July period this year.

The gross national income contributed by the E&E sector grew 19.1 per cent to RM23.1 billion in the second quarter of this year compared with the same period last year.

From January-August this year, the E&E exports have shown a significant growth of 9.6 per cent to RM165.5 billion from RM151 billion in the same period in 2013.

E&E imports increased by 4.0 per cent during the same period this year to RM122 billion from RM117.3 billion in the corresponding period a year ago.

Meanwhile, on the weakening of ringgit, Mustapa said it would not have a significant impact on trade, and reiterated Malaysia’s total trade growth projection at between 6.0 per cent and 7.0 per cent this year, compared with 4.7 per cent achieved last year.