A bright outlook for ‘ Malaysia: A New Dawn’
> Conference aims to reinforce confidence in new govt, says finance minister
PETALING JAYA: Nearly five months after the Pakatan Harapan government came into power, an investors’ conference, akin to the annual capital market event “Invest Malaysia”, is set to take place next Tuesday at a time when the country is grappling with domestic and external uncertainties.
The local stock market has seen a massive outflow of foreign funds since the government change, pending clarity on government policy, exaggerated by heightened US-China trade tensions and emerging market currencies crisis.
The year-to-date outflow from Bursa Malaysia as of last Friday stood at RM8.5 billion.
The ringgit is not spared from the sell-off, having fallen 2.3% year-to-date.
According to Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, the conference, themed “Malaysia: A New Dawn”, aims to bring together over 2,000 fund managers, investors, bankers and corporate leaders from Malaysia as well as throughout the region at Shangri-la Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. It also serves as a precursor to the tabling of the Budget 2019 scheduled for Nov 2.
He said in a statement yesterday that the main objective of the conference is to convey the government’s medium- to long-term aspirations and to reinforce confidence in the new administration among industry stakeholders and foreign investors.
“The new administration hopes to inform the local and international investors of our findings, our goals and our approach to resolve and overcome the many challenges especially on fiscal issues that we have identified.”
Lim noted that the new government has managed to instill public confidence in the management of the economy, the monetary sector and capital markets despite facing the severe fiscal issues brought about by the RM1 trillion federal government debt.
“The challenge begs the issue of how should the government balance the needs of containing the fiscal deficit and generating sustainable economic growth, growth that is necessary to bring about higher wage growth, reduce income inequality, and improve the economic well-being of the rakyat.”
The conference will see participation from key representatives from the government, industry stakeholders (both local and foreign), to discuss the New Malaysia’s economic, social and political conditions. Other aspects of discussion include sustainable infrastructure, affordable housing, agri-commodities and Malaysians’ socio-economic well-being.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad will deliver the keynote address, while Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will deliver the closing speech at the conference.
Other speakers include Lim, Bank Negara Malaysia governor Datuk Nor Shamsiah Mohd Yunus, Communications and Multimedia minister Gobind Singh Deo, International Trade and Industry minister Ignatius Darell Leiking, Energy, Technology and Science minister Yeo Bee Yin and Khazanah Nasional Bhd managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan.
The programme includes plenary sessions with ministers, members of Parliament, heads of government-linked companies and leading industry experts.