BATU KAWAN (Feb 20): The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) expects to facilitate investments worth RM18 billion and realised investments of RM22 billion in 2024, while aiming to create 22,000 job opportunities.

Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) chief executive Mohamad Haris Kader Sultan said the figure was similar to its target for 2023 as it plans to maintain a conservative stance given that big companies with chunky investments will not come in every year.

However, he noted that NCER surpassed its 2023 targets and managed to facilitate investments worth RM21.41 billion and more than 24,000 job opportunities created last year.

“The success of the NCER Strategic Development Plan 2021-2025 (NCER SDP) is a testament to its ability to steer the region towards attracting investments and boosting the socio-economic growth of the NCER.

“Since its establishment in 2008 until 2022, NCER has recorded a cumulative investment of RM206.41 billion with 241,140 job opportunities successfully created.

“Foreign direct investment contributed 44.7 per cent of the cumulative investments recorded so far, while the rest came from domestic investments,” he told a media briefing of the ‘NCER 2023 Performance Wrap-up.’

Mohamad Haris said the NCER SDP will continue to be the backbone of NCIA’s planning for the coming years with a focus on strategic projects, high-impact investments, talent and the development of MSMEs.