Mustafa Mohamed, Malaysian Minister of Trade and Industry predicted a slight increase of foreign direct invest (FDI) in Malaysia this year after its net FDI reaching 9.89 billion Malaysian ringgit (about 2.61 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter, a 37.1 percent increase on last year, according to the latest local media reports.

In 2014, the global foreign direct investment plunged to 1.2 trillion from 1.47 trillion U.S. dollars in 2013, a 16 percent drop, the minister was quoted as saying in the reports.

Affected by the global environment, FDI in Malaysia decreased from 38.2 billion in 2013 to 35.3 billion Malaysian ringgit in 2014, falling down 7.4 percent, according to the reports.

He promised to investors that the government will continue to promote investment liberalization, introduce high-quality and high value-added FDI, as well as to support Malaysian enterprises to become strong investors in this region and in the whole world.

According to the 2015 World Investment Report, China ranks top in FDI attraction, and Malaysia ranks the fourth among the ASEAN countries.