3. Initiatives for tech development

Meanwhile, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, expects Budget 2018 to have initiatives to promote the development of technology.

Managing director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar said this was in line with the government’s aspiration for the Transformasi Nasional 2050 (TN50) plan, which strove to optimise the use of technology for future development.

“TN50 is something the government is working on. Khazanah in also contributing to this process in looking to the future, where we want to use the best of technology, to produce better development for everyone,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2017.

Khazanah, as the government strategic investment agency, has been actively investing in technology companies. To date, the government investment arm has invested US$1 billion or RM4.22 billion in 25 technology companies globally after seeing huge potentials from its investment in Chinese online trading giant Alibaba.

“We have made a good investment in Alibaba and we are sitting on unrealised gains totalling US$1.4 billion,” he said.

Nevertheless, he said, Khazanah continued to balance its investment portfolio to benefit the nation not just in terms of financial.

“At the same time we talk about building through value as we help develop the country in our role as the strategic agency whereby value is not just financial but also from economic, strategic and societal,” he said.

He said, on average, Khazanah invested in not more than 20 companies annually.

For every investment decision, he said, Khazanah would evaluate between 30 and 50 potential investments.

On this point, RHB Research noted that Industry 4.0 is the latest evolution in the digitisation and automation of manufacturing processes.

Based on the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA), the government is currently drafting a national policy on Industry 4.0 which would be tabled in 4Q17 in Parliament, while a National Industry 4.0 Taskforce is to be established to spearhead the Government’s policy and strategy.

Among the initiatives the government may impose include tax incentives targeted at Industry 4.0.