Ekuinas, MDEC CEOs among new members of MVCDC

KUALA LUMPUR: Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas) chief executive officer (CEO) Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir and Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) CEO Surina Shukri are among the seven new members of the Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Development Council (MVCDC) appointed by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

Established in 2005, the MVCDC serves as an inter- ministerial council with representatives from both the public and private sectors to provide vision and direction, advise the government, as well as facilitate greater coordination of strategies for the overall development of the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) industry.

In a statement yesterday, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said the new members were appointed for a two-year term beginning March 1, 2019.

“Given the importance of VC and PE financing in spurring entrepreneurship and catalysing the government’s efforts to move the country towards a highincome value-add economy, the MVCDC has undertaken various initiatives in close engagement with the government to accelerate the industry’s growth.

“These include measures to enhance tax incentives, attract investments by corporates, encourage entry of foreign industry players, streamline government funding and expand the pool of industry professionals,” it said.

The five other new members of the MVCDC are secretary-general of the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Azhar Haji Yahaya; the Finance Ministry’s National Budget Office deputy director (general services sector) Suhara Salleh; Malaysian Business Angels Network president Dr V Sivapalan; Malaysian VC and PE Association president Victor Chua and Permodalan Nasional Bhd senior vice-president and head of private investments Mohd Irwan Ahmad Mustafa.

The MVCDC is chaired by SC chairman Datuk Syed Zaid Albar, and the SC’s deputy chief executive Datuk Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin is also a member of the council.

“The SC’s chairmanship of the MVCDC is in line with its role as the capital market regulator which includes overseeing the development of alternative funding channels such as VC and PE, as well as equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing,” it added. — Bernama