KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 7): Government-linked investment companies (GLIC), and government-owned entities in general have the responsibility to “crowd in” private investors and other stakeholders when investing to develop Malaysia’s economy, said Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.

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 for economic growth in the country, Amirul Feisal said.

“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 said during his welcome remarks at the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2024 here on Monday.

“But let me also say to what government-owned entities are typically criticised for, which is ‘crowding out’ private players; we believe that we also have a responsibility to ‘crowd in’ private players and other stakeholders,” Amirul Feisal added.

The sovereign wealth fund chief cited the National Fund of Funds initiative as an example of a public-private collaborative approach to develop the country’s venture capital (VC) ecosystem.

“Rather than us being individual limited partners trying to support the development of Malaysia’s VC ecosystem, we believe it makes more sense to attempt a coordinated approach, leveraging on the collective expertise of all our entities.

“Even 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 SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) that help form the ecosystem,” he said.

The National Fund of Funds was first announced in April by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the chairman of Khazanah, with an initial RM1 billion allocation to invest in innovative high-growth Malaysian companies and start-ups.

Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan had said in July that the establishment of the fund — to be launched by Khazanah — is expected to be fully completed by October 2024.

Amir Hamzah had said that Khazanah will contribute to the majority of the funding, while the rest will be from existing funds in Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd and Penjana Kapital Sdn Bhd.

The fund is expected to contribute to an increase in the penetration rate of Malaysian VCs, from US$332 million (approximately RM1.40 billion) in 2023, to US$1.4 billion (RM5.91 billion) by 2030, as suggested in the Malaysia Venture Capital Roadmap 2024-2030.

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