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The 2009 Budget announcement clearly cements the Government's commitment towards protecting the wellbeing of the rakyat and sustaining economic growth over the mid-term period. We are encouraged by the capital market incentives that were announced as these will enhance the attractiveness of Malaysia as an investment and capital raising platform.
Tax exemption on fees received by domestic intermediaries which successfully list foreign companies and foreign investment products in Bursa Malaysia is timely to internationalise our capital markets with an infusion of listings of foreign companies and foreign investment products. We already have a number of interested foreign companies who are seeking listing on Bursa Malaysia and this tax exemption measure, coupled with our liberalised and flexible listing framework should certainly see foreign company listings realised on the local bourse very soon. This will also better serve our investors with a variety of investment products and allow for portfolio risk diversification.
The Government has also added strength to our continuous efforts to position Malaysia as an Islamic investment hub through the three years tax exemption for fees and profits earned by institutions dealing with related activities on non-Ringgit sukuk issued in Malaysia and distributed outside Malaysia. This incentive is set to move our sukuk market into the international space through the issuance of non-Ringgit sukuks and reinforce Malaysia's leadership position as the world's largest sukuk issuance centre where we currently issue over 60% of global sukuks.
