Khazanah Nasional Bhd chief investment officer Datuk Hisham Hamdan
SINGAPORE: Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional is betting on deepening partnerships with both the United States and China, capitalising on the economic giants' outsized influence on global capital flows and technology, its chief investment officer said on Thursday.
Apart from making investments, Khazanah's role was to look for companies in China or in the U.S. who can partner with Malaysian entrepreneurs and share research and development know-how, Datuk Hisham Hamdan said in an interview, without elaborating.
"You have to pay attention to these countries," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore, noting China was investing 2.7% of its gross domestic product in research and development.
Malaysia has seen rising investments from both the United States and China in recent years. It has emerged as a major hotspot for data centres - securing investments from U.S. technology giants like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Amazon as well as their Chinese counterparts Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei.
It is also seeking to position itself as a regional hub for semiconductors, automakers, and critical minerals such as rare earths.
Hisham said he was excited by the possibility of the U.S. lowering interest rates as China relocates supply chains. "That reminds me of the roaring 90s," Hisham said referring to the decade when Malaysia saw rapid economic growth when the U.S. lowered rates and Japan moved supply chains to the Southeast Asian nation.
"We try to take advantage of this China supply chain that needs to be in ASEAN or Malaysia," Hisham said, referring to Southeast Asia.
He said Khazanah has investments in more than 8,000 companies globally and it was not about investments in individual companies but "the geography you are in, whether you're overweight or underweight, and the sectors you are in".
Khazanah Nasional started operations in 1994 and is wholly owned by the Malaysian government. In recent years, Khazanah has shifted its focus towards diversifying its portfolio internationally, increasing investments in technology, renewable energy, and private equity.
Asked about Khazanah partnering with a Chinese state-owned firm to build a rare earth refinery in Malaysia, reported exclusively by Reuters on Thursday, Hisham declined to confirm the talks or plans for the proposed refinery.
He said it was "way too early", but acknowledged that rare earths were among industries being explored by the fund. - Reuters
