KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 (Bernama) -- The liberalisation of the services sector is expected to help speed up economic growth through the process of integration into the global market, the Dewan Rakyat was informed today.

Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Tun Mahathir said the liberalisation of 27 sub-sectors in the services sector announced by the government in 2009 has helped to bring in new technologies and skills into Malaysia.

Apart from providing a more attractive economic environment for foreign investments, the opening up of the market have also raised domestic capacities and filled in the gaps in the services sector through these investments.

The deputy minister said this at the Parliament sitting today in his reply to a question from Datuk Seri Mohamed Zahrain Hashim (Independent-Bayan Baru) who wanted to know the effects and impact of the sector's liberalisation to local traders.

Mukhriz said investments in the sector had gone up by 91.8 per cent to RM70.4 billion in 2011, compared with RM36.7 billion in 2012, where the contribution of foreign investors had also gone up to 25.4 per cent from 11.2 per cent previously.

Domestic investments nevertheless continued to stay high at RM52.4 billion in 2011 against RM32.6 billion in 2010, he said.

Mukhriz said there was still a vast scope of opportunities for investment in the services sector, both for local and foreign investors.