MALAYSIA

Foreign Applications Plunge: The applications for manufacturing investments in Malaysia plunged 37.6% last year, a fact that could undercut the country’s drive to build a high-tech economy. Overall investment applications fell 19.5% to $6.925 billion, the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority said in a report. In releasing the report, Rafidah Aziz, international trade and international minister, stressed that foreign investment is falling worldwide and that Malaysia is still well ahead of its 1991-95 investment targets under the Sixth Malaysia Plan. But Rafidah acknowledged that Malaysia remains dependent on foreign investors as a source of technology transfer.