‘More investment opportunities in China’s technology space’

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd sees more investment opportunities in China’s technology space.

Managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said China is a world leader in multiple technologies and far ahead of Silicon Valley, particularly in some consumer and financial technologies.

“The job of investors, not just Khazanah, is to identify the right trends and technologies. China has become a matured economy but opportunities will always be there,” he said during his presentation entitled “Malaysian Investments into China” at South China Morning Post’s China Conference, here, yesterday.

He said Khazanah’s focus area of investment is in e-commerce, artificial intelligence and new media.

Khazanah was among the early investors in the Alibaba Group. The soverign wealth fund’s investment in the e-commerce giant was reportedly valued at more than US$1 billion (RM4.13 billion), a fourfold increase of its initial US$250 million investment, ahead of Alibaba’s listing in 2014.

Shahril said China’s market is many times bigger than Malaysia.

“In terms of economic diversification, it is always better to look at more than one market. We encourage investee companies to have dialogues with Chinese counterparts and technology providers to find out and understand what we can do to expand our existence beyond their shores,” he said.

Shahril is optimistic and chose to see blessings in disguise when asked to comment on the ongoing trade friction between China and the United States.

“Trade friction is worrying but we’re trying to understand its impact on our supply chain. As the Chinese say — in every crisis there is an opportunity,” he said.