Six Malaysian government-linked investment companies with more than 1.8 trillion ringgit (US$422 billion) of combined assets under management have committed 120 billion ringgit into domestic direct investments over the next five years under a programme led by the finance ministry.
The investors include the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), Malaysia’s two largest pension funds. The others are sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, fund management company Permodalan Nasional (PNB), the Armed Forces Fund Board, known by its local acronym LTAT, and pilgrimage fund Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH).
Their investments will primarily be directed into high-growth and high-value industries such as energy transition and advanced manufacturing, especially semiconductors, and across all life cycle of firms, from startups, venture capital to mid-tier companies, right through to their listings, the finance ministry says in a statement on August 8.
According to the ministry, the investors will “leverage on their respective expertise to achieve a common goal of raising the ceiling of Malaysia’s economic stature and raising the floor of Malaysians’ quality of life”.
Each investment firm will have its own focus area.
The EPF will focus on commercially viable sustainable healthcare solutions, while KWAP will focus on empowering local private markets across private equity, infrastructure and real estate.
Khazanah will concentrate on ensuring resilience of the semiconductor ecosystem, nurture mid-tier company growth, and invest in the venture capital ecosystem.
PNB will emphasise modernisation of industries and companies, with specific focus on new industrial parks, automation and smart farming in palm oil, as well as green energy transition assets.
LTAT will focus on boosting value creation in the pharmaceutical sector and TH will aim to broaden the role of Islamic banks.