US Ambassador to Malaysia Brian McFeeters said US companies have made investment pledges totalling 100 billion USD (465 billion RM) in various sectors in Malaysia over the last 18 months. (Photo: malaymail.com)

Kuala Lumpur – US companies have made investment pledges totaling 100 billion USD in various sectors in Malaysia over the last 18 months, US Ambassador to Malaysia Brian McFeeters said on August 21.

According to the ambassador, these are significant investments in areas where the US wants to strengthen its presence, namely electronics and semiconductor sectors, as well as data centre segment which is a big growth area. US investments are really coming strong into Malaysia because during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US found that Malaysia is a key part of the world’s supply chain.

He said a lot of US factories are depending directly on something made in Malaysia, so the two countries have a mutually beneficial economic relationship that has been developed to this day.

The ambassador added that most US companies that have invested in Malaysia have also gained the benefits from latest technologies coming into the country. Meanwhile, Malaysia has been playing a very constructive role in terms of economic integration within the ASEAN region.

He also highlighted that Malaysia has agreed to host the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) negotiation round which will be held in October this year to discuss ways of creating a clean economy with renewable energy (RE).

The negotiation round, he said, will be looking into 21st century issues in areas of how to create a clean economy using more RE and improving the supply chain to avoid another breakdown in the future.

He said that the negotiation round in October is particularly important because by November this year, the US is hosting the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Meeting where the US will announce the results of the discussions.

Hopefully, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will be there because Malaysia is playing a very big part in hosting the negotiation, the ambassador added.