‘Malaysia will attract investments by staying true to green vision’
13 Sep 2022
Malaysia, given its importance within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well as Asean, has much to gain in investments from China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The GBA refers to the Chinese government’s plan to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.
Speaking at the Petronas Experience Ventures event yesterday, pan-Asian venture capital firm Gobi Partners co-founder and chairman Thomas G. Tsao said over the next 10 years, a significant amount of investments coming out of China would be from the GBA.
“The global image of China as the manufacturer of low quality products has clouded over the fact that the country is currently the largest producer of research papers across various segments and expertise in the world.
“In fact, China has been funding research and development and this investment would substantially grow over time.
“China is not only looking at manufacturing products anymore. Now, it is looking at clean and green areas of investments such as artificial intelligence, financial technology, health tech, Fourth Industrial Revolution sustainability and Web 3, ” Tsao added.
The government has articulated its vision for Malaysia to become a carbon-neutral nation by 2050 and is, thus, a prime contender to be a recipient or partner of investments from the GBA.
“Malaysia’s positioning within Asean and BRI, as well as the diversity of its people, are attractive to GBA investors as well as those from the Silicon Valley in the United States.
“Malaysia stands to gain a lot of investments as long as it remains neutral and steadfast to its green-friendly vision, ” he said.
Founded in 2002, Gobi Partners has raised 15 funds with US$1.5 billion of assets under management, invested in over 320 startups and also nurtured nine unicorns.
Source: NST
