Khazanah to invest RM6.77b in projects to boost economy

KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has announced additional domestic investments of RM6.77bil in support of the Government’s newly unveiled initiatives to strengthen Malaysia’s economy.

These investments would include:

1)      Desaru Coast Destination Resort, an integrated leisure and tourism resort in Desaru, Johor, with a development cost of approximately RM4.5bil between now and 2017 to 2022;

2)      A new Tourism Venture Fund of RM50mil for qualified tourism entrepreneurs in the sub sectors of eco-tourism and cultural/heritage tourism;

3)      New hospitals and extension of existing hospitals under IHH Healthcare Bhd costing approximately RM670mil between 2015 and 2017 in Medini, Iskandar; Kuala Lumpur, Klang, Melaka, and Kota Kinabalu;

4)      A new in-patient rehabilitation hospital business with investment totalling approximately RM100mil over the next two years until 2017, together with a foreign technical operator and equity partner to bring in global best practices;

5)      Development of Dataran Muzium and Tugu Park at an estimated development cost of RM1.1bil between 2016 and 2018 to 2020, with Khazanah funding approximately RM730mil of the cost. The projects are a not-for-profit contribution to public spaces and are expected to be completed between 2018 and 2020;

6)      In the Creative Industries, the set-up of Sonneratia Capital, a RM50mil co-investments fund to finance production of local content for the export markets. Sonneratia Capital expects to see the release of the films in various regional markets starting from the end of 2015;

7)      In Iskandar Malaysia, i2M Sdn Bhd, a 100% subsidiary of Khazanah, will accelerate an investment of RM90mil to attract a targeted RM2.2bil of additional foreign investment by 2020 in the BPO sector;

8)      An additional RM115mil for the domestic innovation and technology sector across several initiatives including the creation of physical innovation and accelerator space; startup bootcamps; angel matching co-investments in early-stage companies; and seed-stage venture capital funding for the Information Technology (IT) and non-IT sectors, respectively; and

9)      In line with the Government’s call to increase the Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M) programme allocation from 10,000 to 15,000 participants in 2015 (from the overall SL1M programme total of 4,500 participants in 2014), Khazanah is committed to more than double its existing commitment from 1,330 to 3,800 participants, at an estimated total cost of RM95mil per annum.

“In the context of the proactive measures announced today, Khazanah reiterates its commitment to review and, where opportune, to harvest a selection of its international investments in support of the measures,” the strategic investment fund said in a statement on Monday.

“At the same time, Khazanah will continue to execute its medium and long-term balanced investment strategies, including where appropriate, in international investments, in an orderly manner as mandated and approved by the Khazanah board of directors,” it added.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on Monday unveiled several proactive measures to strengthen the country’s economic fundamentals and address the impact of financial turbulence in the global markets on Malaysia’s economy.

“Concurrently and in the context of the proactive economic measures, Khazanah is also pleased to announce that it will also accelerate and increase domestic investments over the immediate and medium term in several key sectors.

These sectors and investments have been selected on the basis of those that provide higher domestic economic multipliers, boost job creation, support local content, increase prospects for foreign exchange receipts, and enhance public goods and inclusiveness for the Rakyat. These include the leisure and tourism, healthcare and health tourism, export-oriented creative industries, innovation and technology and Business Process Outsourcing sectors,” it said.