Conference Highlights:
- Invest Malaysia is a showcase of Malaysia’s capital market diversity with this year’s conference designed to connect the many individual strengths of Malaysia to the wider ASEAN and global economies.
Bursa Malaysia and Maybank will be co-organising the 14th Invest Malaysia on the 23rd and 24th of January 2018 at the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. The conference, which is the largest annual capital market event in Malaysia, will showcase 61 Malaysian companies, ranging from large to mid cap PLCs with market capitalisation totalling RM767.6 billion. Invest Malaysia 2018 (IM2018) is also expecting to host over 1000 local and regional fund managers from Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, United States of America and United Kingdom with a total estimated AUM of USD17.2 trillion.
Prime Minister Yang Amat Berhormat Dato' Sri Mohd Najib bin Tun Abdul Razak will be the Guest of Honour and deliver the keynote address at the event.
Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia said, “Over the last decade, Malaysia’s economy has moved along a path of solid and sustainable growth. The nation’s strategic location, international partnerships, broad-based development and innovation and entrepreneurial skills are strengths that have contributed to the economic resilience. This year’s conference aims to connect these strengths and provide the impetus that will advance our performance and ensure that Malaysia remains a top investment and listing destination and solidify our position as a vibrant capital market.”
Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, Group President and CEO of Maybank, said that Maybank is expecting the economic strength of 2017 to sustain well into 2018 and market core earnings growth to resume. He said, “Malaysia’s economic strength is built upon decades of growth-focused and transformative policies that have ensured the country’s sustained competitiveness and economic robustness. These forward-leaning masterplans were crafted to capitalise on Malaysia’s natural advantages while leveraging events that are shaping ASEAN and we are confident that investors will find it a compelling story when choosing their investment destination.”
Themed “Connecting Strengths. Advancing Performance”, IM2018 will feature global thought leaders, captains of industry, and corporate leaders.
Notable conversationalists at this year’s Invest Malaysia include Professor Stéphane Garelli, Tan Sri Wahid Omar, Group Chairman of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), Dato’ Seri Cheah Cheng Hye, Chairman and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Value Partners, Linda Yueh and Patrick Grove, Co-Founder and CEO of Catcha Group. Professor Garelli, founder of IMD World Competitiveness Centre, previously led the World Economic Forum and Davos Symposium as Managing Director, while Linda Yueh is a renowned global economist specialising on China and currently serving as a Fellow in Economics at Oxford University and an Adjunct Professor at London Business School.
The plenary session will deep-dive into how Malaysia can leverage its natural advantages to increase its competitiveness in the global market, while bringing focus to the opportunities born out of digital and social innovation that is burgeoning in and around Asia.
Datuk Seri Tajuddin said, “The world is on the cusp of great change. The digital economy is set to be a key driver of growth, with multiple initiatives and platforms launched, contributing 18.2% to Malaysia’s GDP and expected to exceed the projected target of 20% before 2020. On the capital market front, we have observed a similar trend where Malaysia’s technology sector had been one of the best performers last year.”
“The future is digital innovation, and economies and corporates alike must be proactive in preparing for the disruption that it brings, so that they are well-positioned to capture the opportunities it presents. E-commerce, for instance, has fuelled internet retailing globally, and offers exciting prospects for Malaysia. Malaysia’s internet retailing value constitute 2.1% of total retailing value in 2016, as compared to Hong Kong (3.2%), and China (17.0%). This alone highlights the abundance of opportunities the industry presents,” Datuk Farid added.
Participating corporates from various industries including banking, plantation, automobile, construction, oil & gas, property, and telecommunications, will also be holding private meetings with fund managers during the conference. To-date, about 2500 meeting requests have been received, reflecting the strong interest among institutional investors in Malaysia’s investment opportunities.