Malaysia’s status as ASEAN’s Multinational Marketplace has been further cemented with the success of Invest Malaysia 2013. This year’s conference, themed: ASEAN’s Multinational Marketplace, showcased 52 of Malaysia’s largest multinational companies that have gained leading positions in key sectors across ASEAN and who provide unique investment opportunities for global investors to take advantage of ASEAN’s growth.
Over 60 global fund management companies, with over USD15 trillion of assets under management (AUM), attended the conference, participating in over 500 group and 1-on-1 meetings with Malaysia’s leading companies listed on Bursa Malaysia. The number of meeting requests filled, which was nearly a 50% increase from 2012, validates the strong interest in Malaysia and the multitude of investment opportunities from companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Dato’ Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, said, “The record turnout of foreign fund managers clearly affirms Bursa Malaysia’s strength as the prime marketplace for buying into the growth opportunities offered by ASEAN. Across key economic sectors, such as Plantation, Finance and Oil & Gas, many of our listed companies have seen tremendous growth in the ASEAN region in recent years, building on the robust Malaysian marketplace. In essence, when you buy Malaysia, you are investing in the growth of ASEAN. That was a central message that we wanted to put across to global investors and the active engagement we had from fund managers at IMKL 2013 shows that the message is being understood.
"Bursa Malaysia offers investors tremendous opportunities right now. Our listed companies are harnessing the opportunities and efficiency of our marketplace brought about in part by Malaysia’s transformation programme and the strength of our capital market to expand throughout the region. In fact, our FBM KLCI companies are already earning 45% of revenues from overseas”, continued Dato’ Tajuddin.
The 9th Invest Malaysia capital market conference was organised by Bursa Malaysia in partnership with Maybank Kim Eng. Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Razak opened the conference with his Keynote Address where he emphasised several key initiatives to further develop the capital market. These include the rollout of an online trading platform by 2014 for unlisted securities called myULM. This new trading platform is an initiative already underway to promote greater inclusiveness of financing and ensure better access to capital for start-ups, aspiring entrepreneurs and small-to-medium-sized entities.
Prime Minister Najib also indicated, “it is time for government-linked investment companies, especially the Employee’s Provident Fund, to play a more prominent role in mobilising capital, particularly in good quality mid-cap stocks.” He further stated, “By setting a specific objective to increase the velocity of shares traded, they can make a significant contribution to overall market vibrancy.”
“We welcome the initiatives announced by Prime Minister Najib to further strengthen the capital market and increase market vibrancy, which in turn will attract more investors”, said Dato’ Tajuddin.
A further highlight of this year’s conference was a landmark presentation by Jim Rogers, who identified specific areas of the Malaysian economy set to benefit from ASEAN’s rise.
“Our market has been on a clear uptrend in recent years. All our major share indices are up, market capitalisation has grown 130% since 2009 and our dividend yields are the highest in ASEAN. We were also amongst the world’s top five IPO markets in 2012 and we anticipate another strong performance this year. These are precisely the sort of opportunities that interest global fund managers at the conference. And the speed of change in the marketplace is only set to intensify as we go forward. We have earned a global reputation as a transparent and innovative market that is efficient and opportunistic for investors, and we plan to keep building on that”, Dato’ Tajuddin said.
Tengku Dato’ Zafrul, Group Chief Executive of Maybank Kim Eng, affirmed Malaysia’s growth potential for Malaysian corporates, stating, “This is unarguably the most exciting time for Malaysian companies. The government’s Economic Transformation programme, coupled with the fact that Malaysia’s baby boomers are now entering the workforce is driving strong domestic demand. We are also benefitting directly from our strategic position at the heart of ASEAN. This is a region of 600 million people, with an average annual growth rate of 6%. While the rest of the world is finally waking-up to the vast opportunity that ASEAN has to offer, we have spent the past few years establishing ourselves as a regional market leader.
“Today, Malaysian companies are ASEAN leaders in key sectors such as Plantations, Finance and Oil & Gas. They have been able to achieve that because our home market offers a comprehensive business eco-system that supports their push abroad. Our deep and diversified capital markets have been a critical part of that. Maybank Kim Eng, with our deep presence across ASEAN, has been supporting Malaysian corporates in capturing these opportunities and tapping into the active flows in ASEAN,” continued Tengku Dato' Zafrul.
IMKL 2013 showcased 52 Malaysian multinational champions across diverse sectors that validated Malaysia’s position as ASEAN’s Multinational Marketplace. Additionally, 8 companies from other ASEAN countries were invited to present at IMKL 2013. More than 2,000 capital market players attended this year, including global fund managers, top and senior executives of listed companies and key capital market government officials.
