KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will promote its bond markets and blue chips stocks in China to boost local capital and equity markets, said MCA Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan.
As a result of uncertainty following the US Presidential election, foreign funds are rushing out of the country, leading to a further weakening of the ringgit.
Because of this, Malaysia needs to find new sources of foreign funds, such as China, said Ong.
“Traditionally, most of our foreign funds have come from advanced economies such as the United States and Japan. But in this difficult time, China and India can become new sources of our foreign funds,” Ong told the New Straits Times at the 63rd MCA annual general meeting here, today.
Ong, who is also Second International Trade and Industry Minister, said China has foreign reserves of US$4 trillion (RM17 trillion). If China were to bring in funds to support our capital and equity markets, that would strengthen ringgit.
“We will take the initiative of doing road shows in other countries, as we cannot sit and wait for people to come here to invest. Particularly China, as it is an emerging market. Although they have fund managers, they are new, and only concentrate on their homeland – so there are ample opportunities to tap into this country,” he said.
Ong added that Malaysia’s international trade is strong, with the total worth from Jan to Sep last year amounting to RM1.071 trillion (the same period this year recorded a figure of RM1.077 trillion – a growth of 0.6 per cent).