KWAP chief executive officer Datuk Nik Amlizan Mohamed.
PETALING JAYA: The Retirement Fund Inc’s (KWAP) Dana Pemacu strategy is expected to strengthen Malaysia’s private markets ecosystem, says Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
“The launch of Dana Pemacu by KWAP is in line with the broader reforms by the government to optimise government-linked investment companies institutional funds to spur investments into high growth Malaysian companies, contributing to initiatives which raise the ceiling under the Madani Economy framework,” he said at the global forum on Islamic economics and finance here yesterday.
The Dana Pemacu strategy comprises an investment of RM6bil in capital commitment, with 50% going towards syariah-compliant investments (RM3bil).
KWAP chief executive officer Datuk Nik Amlizan Mohamed said the investments would allow KWAP to unlock the potential of Islamic equity capital, enhancing overall private markets and offering opportunities for ethical and socially-responsible investing.
Additionally, it will create opportunities for Malaysia to deploy its own capital investments without the assistance of external parties in the long run.
“Through this newly launched capital investment, we aspire to support more local companies to scale domestically and internationally through both conventional and syariah-compliant channels, ultimately strengthening financial markets and enhancing local talent development in Malaysia,” she added.
She said KWAP had received an encouraging response of 40 proposals received from global general partners that are interested in joining the programme.
“At the same time, we have identified more than 60 Malaysian players to be nominated as part of this programme,” she added.
Nik Amlizan said priority would be given to companies within key economic sectors, namely food security, education, silver economy and healthcare, energy transition, digital economy, financial inclusion and other impact-related critical themes under the Madani Economic framework.
On a separate note, Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz said he had requested the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (Mida) to include a new category for foreign direct investment and domestic direct investment namely, the halal category.
He said Mida would spearhead the overall investment promotions while the Halal Development Corp (HDC) would drive growth in the halal industrial ecosystem.
“The ministry is also redefining the role of HDC to eliminate redundancies and sharpen the focus of halal industry promotion within the ecosystem,” he added.
HDC will craft strategies for value chains, branching out into new sectors like pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care, logistics, hospitality services and medical devices to cater to the modern economy.
