KUALA LUMPUR, June 9 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia's approved investments edged down 0.2 percent year-on-year to 92.8 billion ringgit (22.83 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter of 2026, according to official data released on Monday.

The approved investments covered 1,249 projects across the services, manufacturing and primary sectors, with the projects expected to generate 50,226 jobs, up 46.7 percent from a year earlier, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) said in a statement.

Foreign investments accounted for 56.2 billion ringgit, or 60.5 percent of total approvals, while domestic investments increased 13 percent to 36.6 billion ringgit, representing 39.5 percent of the total.

Japan was the largest source of foreign investment with 21.5 billion ringgit in approved projects, followed by China and the United States at 10.1 billion ringgit each, Singapore at 6.7 billion ringgit and Thailand at 2.5 billion ringgit.

The services sector remained the biggest contributor, attracting 60.8 billion ringgit, or 65.5 percent of total approved investments, across 731 projects.

Manufacturing approvals amounted to 24.1 billion ringgit across 501 projects, with the number of projects surging 142 percent from a year ago amid continued interest in high-technology and advanced manufacturing activities.

The primary sector recorded 7.9 billion ringgit in approved investments, a sharp 418.2 percent year-on-year increase from the level a year earlier, driven by offshore oil and gas development and exploration projects.

The MIDA said Malaysia's investment outlook remains resilient, supported by a pipeline of 182 potential projects worth 38.3 billion ringgit, while discussions are ongoing for an additional 91 billion ringgit of proposed investments. (1 ringgit equals 0.25 U.S. dollars)