KUALA LUMPUR – Bursa Malaysia Bhd held the second instalment of the Invest Malaysia 2020 Virtual Series 2: Recover, Advance and Sustain (IM2020 V2) on July 20, organised in collaboration with CGS-CIMB Securities Sdn Bhd. The theme for this second instalment focused on Malaysia’s Growth Engines, with specific focus on the infrastructure, palm oil and rubber glove industries.
This instalment of Invest Malaysia 2020 was broadcast virtually to over 1,000 institutional investors and corporates from around the world, as well retail investors that tuned in via the Bursa Marketplace Facebook livestream.
Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia, opened Invest Malaysia 2020 Virtual Series 2 conference with a bold request to the Malaysian corporate collective, “To advance the policies and practices of their organisations to ensure the longterm sustainability of the marketplace.”
Datuk Umar concluded with, “We need to demand more from our Boards and management teams to deliver corporate returns to retake our role in the world as a leading emerging marketplace that does it right, delivering sustainability-minded and substantive returns to shareholders.”
The guest-of-honour YB Minister Dato’ Sri Mustapa Bin Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) delivered the keynote address. He stated, “The FBMKLCI benchmark index has crossed above pre-COVID levels, exports are up and running once again. It is now time to look forward.”
The Minister said that the 12th Malaysia Plan will be tabled first quarter 2021 and said, “The Plan will be aligned with the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 as well as the UN 2030 agenda for sustainable development.”
A special address was also given by YB Tuan Willie Mongin, Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, entitled “Powering Malaysia’s Plantation and Commodities Industry” where he stated, “the palm oil, rubber and timber sectors contributed to 94.18% of total commodity export earnings in 2019. Malaysia’s top 3 major export destinations for agri-commodity products are the European Union (EU), China and the United States (US).”
The Deputy Minister continued, “To boost export of palm oil resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government under the Pelan Jana Semula Ekonomi Negara (PENJANA) has given a tax break in the form of 100% exemption on export duty on Crude Palm Oil (CPO), Crude Palm Kernel Oil (CPKO) and Processed Palm Kernel Oil (PPKO). The incentive could attract not only local players but also potential international buyers for palm oil import/export activity.”
CGS-CIMB CEO, Ruzi Rani Ajith, closed the conference sharing results from a retail investor survey conducted by CGS-CIMB stating, “52% of retail investors preferred to invest in their local stock market.” She further continued regarding the survey, “Bull appeared to trump bear, as 41% of respondents that answered our survey expected market to deliver a return or more than 10%. While only 17% of the respondents project a negative return for the stock market.”
The Invest Malaysia 2020 Virtual Series 2 conference hosted three additional conversations; the first focused on Malaysia’s public transportation sector and reviving Malaysia’s infrastructure privatisation featuring Dato’ Ir. Nitchiananthan A/L Balasubramaniam, Executive Director and Group Chief Executive Officer, HSS Engineers Bhd.
The second featured Datuk Mohd Nadgeeb Abdul Wahab, Chief Executive Officer, Malaysia Palm Oil Association, who focused on the Malaysian palm oil sector post-COVID-19. The final conversation was with Dr Supramaniam Shanmugam, Vice President, Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA), who addressed the opportunities for the Malaysian gloves sector post-COVID-19.
This is the second in a series of Invest Malaysia 2020 virtual conferences to be held throughout the year, with the aim of promoting the Malaysia capital market as the leading ESG-driven investment destination in ASEAN. Invest Malaysia 2020 virtual Series 3 will feature conversations on 5G and Industry 4.0, destined to shape the next five years of growth.
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