PUTRAJAYA, Dec 11 — The National Physical Planning Council (MPFN) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim today emphasised the need to step up efforts to attract investors, especially by offering a more comprehensive and competitive investment climate, says the Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT).
The KPKT said to achieve the projected increase in the value of the manufacturing sector that has been targeted by the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030), the related manufacturing sector ecosystem in particular needed to be improved through the provision of industrial park infrastructure and facilities that are conducive for investors or manufacturers.
It said the provision of planned and managed industrial parks with an emphasis on ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ (ESG) elements and ‘technology adoption’ would attract more high-impact investments.
“The provision of a Managed Industrial Park (MIP) with ESG-ready infrastructure will be a ‘game changer’ to the supply of industrial space in the region.
“Investors these days are also more interested in the availability of infrastructure and expertise that allow them to operate quickly through the concept of ‘Plug & Play’ according to the suitability of their investment,” the ministry said in a statement today.
KPKT said Malaysia’s failure to offer such facilities would cause investors to move to other destinations in the region.
KPKT said MPFN today had also considered a total of five working papers, including four proposed development projects of national interest submitted by the state governments of Penang, Johor, Pahang and Negeri Sembilan, as well as a notice on the National Land Use Data 2022.
The National Land Use Data is published every two years to report the current land use as well as the changes in the trend of land use in the states in Peninsular Malaysia.
It is prepared based on the Integrated Planning Land Use Information System (I-Plan) which has been developed and adopted by the Town & Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) beginning in 2016.
KPKT said the change in the trend of saturated built-up land use for 2018 to 2022 in Peninsular Malaysia showed an increase of 2.80 per cent or 34,658.39 hectares, following the growth of the country’s economy which opened up the demand for commercial and industrial land use, contributing to more job opportunities.
“This can be seen in the fourth quarter of 2022, with the job market improving. In addition, the increase in saturated built-up land use is also due to population migration to the city,” he said.
The area of agricultural land use in Peninsular Malaysia has also increased to 0.97 per cent or 51,273.31 hectares, largely due to the opening of new agricultural areas for food security in the country, he said.
For land use in forests, there was a decrease in size by 1.48 per cent or 92,751.23 hectares caused by the change (conversion) of land use from forest to agriculture and other development activities, he said.
“The opening of forest areas for other development activities needs to be paid attention to by all parties as an affected environmental ecosystem could bring great negative effects to the local population such as landslides, floods and others,” he said.
For water body land use, KPKT said there was an increase of 0.29 per cent or 1,063.78 hectares due to the review and realignment of the water body land use area.
