Malaysia to attract world's largest institutional investors, says Rafizi

SHAH ALAM - Malaysia is expected to be the focus of the world's largest institutional investors hosted by UBS, the largest international private bank in the future.

Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said his delegation met with institutional investors who have assets under management between RM180 billion and RM3.2 trillion, and exchanged views on the current economic and political situation, as well as sharing ministry plans for the coming years.

According to him, in the discussion, the ministry focused on the National Energy Transition Roadmap, which can have a major impact on the Malaysian economy with a total investment opportunity of RM637 billion.

"The Ministry of Economy has received encouraging responses from the most influential venture capital firms in the startup world, such as GGV, Iterative VC, TPG Global, East Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, and Openspace Ventures, for the ministry's efforts in developing the startup ecosystem in Malaysia.

"In the session hosted by K3 Ventures and Bloomberg, one of the venture capital firms announced their intention to open a branch in Kuala Lumpur soon," he said in a statement.

Earlier, Rafizi led the Malaysian delegation to Singapore to attend the 16th Malaysia-Singapore Joint Ministerial Committee Meeting for Iskandar Malaysia (JMCIM), which took place on July 14.

Singapore National Development Minister Desmond Lee; Singapore Acting Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat; Johor Chief Minister Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi; and senior officials from both countries also attended the event.

JMCIM agreed to create a special task force to study the establishment of a Johor-Singapore special economic zone.

The purpose of this special economic zone is to increase investment and high-quality jobs in Johor and Singapore by facilitating the flow of people-to-people movement, goods, and business.

This special task force will be led by the Ministry of Economy from Malaysia and the Ministry of Trade and Industry from Singapore, with support from other government agencies.

Rafizi added that the Ministry of Economy will continue to be open to regional cooperation, especially in the fields of economy, talent, and technology.

"Engagement sessions with venture capital firms and experienced founders will be held more often to express the country's ambition to make Kuala Lumpur a regional startup hub.

"I will convey the feedback received from this visit as well as the policies that need to be formulated to the Malaysian cabinet ministers as a measure of economic restructuring by selecting the country's catalyst industries," said Rafizi.

During the visit, Rafizi said, the Ministry of Economy, together with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) and the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), held dialogue sessions with semiconductor companies such as Micron, Infineon Technologies, ST Microelectronics, Venture Corporation, and Synopsys to outline the strategic vision of the semiconductor industry in Malaysia.

"The semiconductor industry is estimated to reach US$1 trillion in 2030 due to increased global demand.

"Determining a strategic vision that can use our existing advantages, especially in backend and integrated circuit design, is able to create high-paying and high-value jobs," he said.