KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — Government-owned entities, which are “typically criticised” for “crowding out” private players, have a responsibility to “crowd in” private players and other stakeholders, said Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.
He said government-owned entities are part of a broader ecosystem and are connected to others just as they are connected to them.
Such entities must work with private companies, the government, regulators, fund managers, foundations, non-governmental organisations, and academia.
"And to that end, we have a session where we will discuss collaborative efforts between the government-linked investment companies (GLICs) to try and drive greater domestic investments for economic growth in Malaysia under the Ministry of Finance’s GEAR-uP programme," he said in his welcoming speech at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2024 (KMF2024) today.
Amirul cited the “National Fund of Funds” as an example of the approach “that we have embarked on, following the merger of Penjana Kapital and Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd.”
"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 on the collective expertise of all our entities," he said.
Amirul added that Khazanah is shaped by its overall strategic goal of ‘Advancing Malaysia’.
“And in executing that strategy, we must, among others, ensure value creation in our companies where we have large shareholdings, invest strategically in solving issues that Malaysia faces via our impact fund or ‘Dana Impak’, or through our energy transition platform UEM Lestra Bhd.
"This produces strong risk-adjusted returns from our global investment operations and delivers societal value to our ultimate stakeholders, the Malaysian rakyat," he said.
Themed 'Pursuit of Potatoes: Paving Paths from the Probable to the Possible', KMF2024 gathered 31 distinguished speakers from a diverse spectrum of countries and backgrounds, with amazing stories, ideas and insights to share.
— Bernama
