KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has set its sights on exploring new potential investments in Southeast Asia and India.
Its managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said the national sovereign wealth fund is looking for the right time to invest and is seeking opportunities to leverage its global presence and networks.
“We look at the strategic asset allocations; it is just a question of timing, and when and where we actually look at the market.
“So we are looking at Southeast Asia and India first,” he said during the MIDF Conversations webinar today.
Last month, the media reported that Khazanah was in talks with Indian auto-services firm GoMechanic to lead a US$100 million (RM446.83 million) investment round.
Amirul Feisal said the United States (US), European countries as well as China are not strategic investment destinations for the time being, as some of these economies are faltering and China is in continuous lockdowns.
However, he said, it is not easy to invest this year following the lower ringgit against the US dollar.
The ringgit slipped to a new all-time low of 4.5640/5680 against the greenback at today’s opening.
“Inevitably, when we see the rate hikes taking place today, the economies of various countries will be impacted,” he added.
On another note, he said Khazanah aims to spur and catalyse new growth areas to make Malaysia more resilient and competitive via Dana Impak, a RM6 billion commitment fund for catalytic sectors.
“We are talking about building the country’s resilience, as well as spurring new growth areas, (something) with a double bottomline with financial and societal impact. That is something we are looking for,” he said. – Bernama