Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Invest Malaysia attracts 201 US investors

NEW YORK: A total of 201 United States brokers, bankers, index providers, multinational companies and fund managers will participate in the inaugural Invest Malaysia New York 2011 (IMNY 2011) here Wednesday, May 18 where Malaysia hopes to provide the right perspective and opportunities to woo them.

Bursa Malaysia Chief Executive Officer Datuk Tajuddin Atan said the two-day event, to be held at the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalisation, would see Malaysia's top 10 firms meeting with some of the most influential fund managers in an effort to add Malaysian companies to their investment portfolios.

He said the US delegates represented total assets under management of US$6 trillion and their presence on Wednesday was indicative of their keen interest in Malaysia.

This is also evident from the 100 over one-to-one meetings that have been lined-up with Malaysian companies.

The highlight of the event will a keynote address on Tuesday afternoon (12.45am Wednesday in Malaysia) by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who will arrive here 1.15am Tuesday (1.15 pm Malaysian time) from his working visit to Britain.

The idea to hold Invest Malaysia at the largest stock exchange in the world was mooted by the prime minister when he visited the NYSE last Sept in a move to attract US investors into the Malaysian market as well as other markets in the Southeast Asia region.

Tajuddin said the event would carry the message that Malaysia has done a lot to boost its economy, including its ongoing Economic Transformation Programme, as US investors were not getting the right perspective of the country.

"Fund managers here don't have enough visibility of what is going on in Malaysia and more negative news is coming to them, unlike those in Singapore, Hong Kong and Europe where the information flow is faster," he told Malaysian journalists here Tuesday.

"Some are even asking us whether the capital control is still in place. That is why we are going to tell them one coordinated story here," he said.

The US delegates to the event comprise 90 fund managers, 37 brokers, 29 bankers, 40 multinational companies and five index providers while there will be 363 delegates to the forum.

Tajuddin said IMNY would focus on three areas, namely the government's transformation programmes and investment opportunities, Malaysia's determination to become the leader in Asean, with a population of 600 million, and the success stories of 10 top companies.

The US was Malaysia's fourth largest trading partner in 2010, with total trade amounting to RM117.32 billion (US$36.43 billion) compared with RM109.21 billion (US$31.03 billion) registered in 2009.

MALAYAN BANKING BHD [] (Maybank) President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Wahid Omar said it was a rare opportunity to assemble the cream of Malaysia's corporate sector, which included, at least five regional players.

"AirAsia, CIMB, Maybank, Genting and Axiata are not only successful in Malaysia, they have also expanded beyond Malaysia. The message is when you invest in these companies, you are looking at Asean," said Wahid, citing Asean's Gross Domestic Product which was higher than India.

The other five top companies participating are Bursa Malaysia, Kencana Petroleum Bhd, Petronas Chemical Group Bhd, Sapura Crest Petroleum Bhd and SIME DARBY BHD [].

Wahid said Invest Malaysia was also timely for the country's largest banking group as it had, just last week, acquired Singapore stockbroker, Kim Eng Holdings Ltd, which enabled Maybank to leverage and tap into Kim Eng's presence in the US.

During the IMNY, a dialogue session will be held with Malaysia's key investment drivers, among them, Securities Commission Chairman Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, Khazanah Malaysia Managing Director Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar and Malaysian Investment Development Authority Director-General Datuk Jalilah Baba. - Bernama

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