Malaysia unveils plans to implement reforms in bid to attract investors

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has unveiled plans to implement reforms this year to ease companies' entry into the national stock exchange in attempts to attract more investors into the country. 

Speaking at an industry event that took place this week, PM Anwar said that the securities regulator and the stock exchange will expedite the process for initial public offerings and reduce time-to-market to ensure that Malaysia stays attractive and competitive, according to Reuters.

PM Anwar also stressed the importance of increasing investor interest for the expansion of the Malaysia market, where he noted that the government understands the need for longer-term market and structural reforms to support Malaysia’s capital market and economic transformation, according to the New Straits Times.

Stressing the importance of increasing investor interest, PM Anwar also revealed that there will be a reduction in stamp duty charges for shares traded on Bursa Malaysia.

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Beginning in July, stamp duty will be reduced from the initial 0.15% to 0.10% of the contract value and subjected to a maximum limit of 1,000 ringgit per contract.

This change will likely reduce the cost of securities transactions and will possibly make the Malaysian stock market more competitive, according to PM Anwar.

PM Anwar also revealed that the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Securities Commission (SC) will proactively look to construct policies to facilitate the setting up of family offices in Malaysia to attract more investors to the country, according to media reports.

PM Anwar noted that both parties will also work to promote corporate venturing to facilitate more domestic direct investment (DDI) via more facilitative tax and incentive policies.

Malaysia has been steadily increasing its attempts to attract more investment into its country, with the recent announcement of a bilateral trade platform established by Singapore and Malaysia to boost bilateral trade and investments between the two countries. The Annual Ministerial Dialogue (AMD) aims to allow neighboring countries to cooperate on digital and green economy as well as strengthen bilateral ties between both ministries, the Malaysian ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) and Singaporean ministry for Trade and Industry (MTI).

During the inaugural AMD, the ministers, Minister Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz of Malaysia and Gan Yim Kong of Singapore, reviewed the progress of two frameworks on cooperation in the Digital Economy and Green Economy, which had been signed between the two governments during Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim’s visit to Singapore on 30 January 2023. 

“Under the framework on cooperation in the Digital Economy, the ministers announced a new taskforce to explore the promotion of cross-border business trade, leveraging the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Singapore’s Business sans Borders initiative,” Minister Zafrul said.

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