Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on Tuesday a task force and a 100 million ringgit foundation to streamline capital market regulations and address growth gaps in a move to increase competency of the market.
The new foundation, to be set up by the Malaysian stock exchange and made up of major industry stakeholders, would address growth gaps in the market, specifically the small and medium industry growth.
A capital market task force, meanwhile, would be put up under the ministry of finance to make recommendations and identify programs to streamline regulatory and improve market management by the end of the third quarter.
"Going forward I am determined to put our capital market in the best possible position to continue to drive Malaysia's economic growth and to put us a step ahead of the rest," Najib addressed thousands of investors at a major investment conference in Kuala Lumpur.
Those two measures were part of five initiatives announced by Najib that included a double tax deduction incentive for companies which re-employ women back from a break and the consolidation of a compensation scheme to protect investors.
"The objective was to build competency and capability that is needed in this fast changing capital market landscape. Earlier we had put money to educate the investors but this now is to address the capacity," Bursa Malaysia Berhad CEO Tajuddin Atan told the press in the Invest Malaysia conference.
"I think this is a good news and I think we are honored that the prime minister has tasked (the Malaysian bourse) to do it. It is a heavy burden but its part of our role," he added.
Najib promised investors in his speech that the national debt limit would not capped below 55 percent of GDP as the country took steps to reduce the fiscal deficit from 4.8 percent of GDP last year./.