It has been almost half a year since Pakatan Harapan’s momentous victory in the 14th General Election. Since that time, many commentators as well as the public have termed the new government as a ‘New Malaysia’, or ‘Malaysia Baru’, which deposed the previous Barisan Nasional’s 61-year rule since Malaysian independence.
When the new government took over, one of its priorities was to restore investor confidence. They needed to prove that Prime Minister YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed still had it after all these years, and that the new team he was heading is up to the task of good governance. Though there were challenges taking over from the old government, investors seem to have regained confidence in Malaysia, as Southeast Asia’s premier destination for growing an investment.
In the spirit of boosting investor confidence and outlining plans for the future, the new Government held an inaugural investor conference themed ‘Malaysia: A New Dawn’. It brought together corporate leaders, financial sponsors and institutional investors to explore market and sector trends. Attendees included over 1,200 institutional investors from 10 countries, namely Malaysia, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The conference was jointly organised by the Finance Ministry and Malaysia three leading banks, namely Maybank, CIMB Bank, and RHB Bank. Held at the Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, the conference explored themes of public-private partnerships, equitable growth, entrepreneurship, and inclusivity. Overall, the program explored the question of: “What will business deliver in the new Malaysia?”
To really give the investors value for their money, the conference brought together all the big guns from Malaysia’s financial and political worlds. Headlining the conference is the Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir himself, who delivered the keynote speech at the event. Other star speakers and moderators included Finance Minister YB Lim Guan Eng; Bank Negara Governor, YBhg Datuk Nor Shamsiah Yunus; Principal Economist of the Asian Development Bank, Dr Bernard Ng; Minister of International Trade and Industry, YB Datuk Ignatius Darell Leiking; and many more. The speakers and moderators of the sessions truly reflected a public-private partnership to bring a new dawn to Malaysia.
In his keynote address, the Prime Minister conveyed some key messages to investors ahead of Budget 2019, scheduled to be tabled at Dewan Rakyat on 2 November 2018. In particular, he cautioned that Malaysians need to brace for new taxes which involve some necessary sacrifice and pain. This is to allow the government to raise new revenue in order to repay the massive debts incurred by the previous administration.
The Prime Minister also said the government aimed to increase investments in Malaysia in order to grow the economy. While he mentioned that GDP growth had been stellar, it had been decoupled from the welfare and well-being of the people, causing greater societal inequality. He also said, with reference to Malaysia’s time in the 90s as one of the ‘Asian Tiger’ economies: “Now the tiger is a very small kitten. With forums like this, with people throwing up ideas and the government being receptive and implementing them, I am quite sure that country will grow to become yet another tiger.”
Tun Dr Mahathir further mentioned that the government debt had become untenable. The government would consider selling some of its assets to raise the funds, including land. Despite the challenges, the Prime Minister said the government was hopeful that it could manage all its problems. He said the government’s confidence was based on its faith in the people who had shown that they could weather economic problems such as the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
Following the Prime Minister’s keynote, Finance Minister YB Lim Guan Eng continued by laying out the Government’s future fiscal policy plans. While the government’s fiscal deficit target is important, it will give priority in ensuring sustainable economic growth in the country. He said the government wanted to see sustainable economic growth to continue so that the country’s primary objective of improving the people’s economic well-being could be ensured.
YB Lim said: “When you improve the people’s economic well-being, it will lead to higher wage increases and higher purchasing power, which will lead to better economic growth. This is a self-fulfilling and virtuous cycle.” He added that the Government is focused on sustainable economic growth, and that most of the other ongoing projects involving the public sector would continue but under a different mechanism and via open tenders.
The programme of the investor conference continued throughout the day with various panel discussions. These discussions were with various ministers and industry insiders, moderated by senior figures from each sector represented by the respective ministries. Among other discussions were conversations with YB Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Communications and Multimedia (moderated by Foong Choong Chen, Regional Telco Analyst, CIMB; and Jeffrey Tan, Regional Telco Analyst with RHB); a panel on Building Sustaining Infrastructure and Housing with YB Baru Bian, Minister of Works, and YB Zuraida Kamaruddin, Minister of Housing and Local Government (moderated by YBhg Dato’ Soam Heng Choon, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director, IJM Corporation Berhad and President, The Real Estate and Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (REHDA)).
The day closed with an up close and personal session with YB Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who recently made his triumphant return to Parliament with his overwhelming victory in the recently-concluded Port Dickson by-election. Following that was a panel on forging ahead together in the New Malaysia. The panellists were former Minister of International Trade and Industry Tan Sri Datin Paduka Rafidah Aziz; YB Tony Pua, Political Secretary to the Minister of Finance; Dr. Syed Azman Syed Ahmad Nawawi, Political Secretary to the Health Minister; YB Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, Vice President, People’s Justice Party (PKR); and YBhg Datuk Dr. Rais Hussin Mohamed Ariff, Chairman, Policy & Strategy Bureau of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia. The day’s closing panel was moderated by Ibrahim Suffian, co-founder and Director of Programs, Merdeka Center for Opinion Research.
With a new Government at the helm, investors were initially wary of their holdings in Malaysia. However, half a year after the election, it appears that the new Government is making the right moves to restore investor confidence, shore up Malaysia’s fiscal position, and bring the fruits of economic growth to the people. How this will shake out over the next year will determine the direction of the New Malaysia – and the people will ultimately be the judge.
Discussion about this post