PETALING JAYA: Government-linked investment companies and government-owned entities should not “crowd out” private investors when investing in developing Malaysia’s economy.
Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said government-owned entities should work with private companies, the government, regulators, fund managers, foundations, non-governmental organisations, and academia, among others, to drive greater investments in economic growth in the country.
“In everything we do, we recognise that we are part of a broader ecosystem, and we are connected with others, just as they are connected to us,“ he told delegates at Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2024 in Kuala Lumpur today, which was officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Amirul Feisal cited the National Fund of Funds (NFoF) initiative as an example of a public-private collaborative approach to developing the country’s venture capital ecosystem, which Khazanah has adopted after the merger of Penjana Kapital Sdn Bhd and Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd (MavCap).
“Rather than us being individual limited partners trying to support the development of Malaysia’s venture capital ecosystem, we believe it makes more sense to attempt a coordinated approach, leveraging the collective expertise of all our entities.”
Amirul Feisal said Khazanah would invest strategically via an impact fund or Dana Impak or through energy transition platform UEM Lestra Bhd to produce strong risk-adjusted returns from its global investment operations and deliver societal value to stakeholders.
The sovereign wealth fund would also continue executing strategies to ensure value creation in companies with large shareholdings.
“For semiconductors, history has taught us that no one country emerged as a semiconductor powerhouse on its own. They required courageous entrepreneurs, savvy policymakers, forward-looking universities, and innovative small and medium enterprises that help form the ecosystem,“ he said.
The NFoF was introduced in April by Anwar, who also serves as Khazanah’s chairman. It has an initial allocation of RM1 billion to invest in innovative, fast-growing Malaysian companies and startups.
In July, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said Khazanah would launch the fund and planned to complete it by this month. He added that Khazanah would provide most of the initiative’s funding, with MavCap and Penjana Kapital providing the remainder.
The fund is expected to boost the involvement of Malaysian venture capital firms, increasing their investments from US$332 million in 2023 to US$1.4 billion (about RM1.4 billion to RM5.91 billion) by 2030, as outlined in the Malaysia Venture Capital Roadmap 2024-2030.
