Malaysia’s Khazanah to steer more capital to power grids, chip firms, chief says in Davos

[DAVOS] Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional plans to channel more capital into strengthening the power system and supporting local semiconductor firms as artificial intelligence (AI) drives the next investment cycle, said its managing director Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.

Surging AI computing needs were reshaping what is “investable” in the AI boom, with energy supply and grid resilience being central to competitiveness, he said in an interview on Monday (Jan 19) at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

“What it does need is computing power and what computing power means energy. So that’s when we think about capturing some of that growth,” Amirul Feisal told the Reuters Global Markets Forum.

While global investors have been pouring money into data centres, he said Khazanah would instead focus on infrastructure.

“We are really looking at the energy part, so again looking at grid resilience,” he said, adding that cheap and reliable power, including renewables, would be critical as AI infrastructure scales up.

Semiconductors, not data centres

The firm was also “seeing how we can help fund some of the capital requirements of our semiconductor players to move up the value chain to advanced packaging”, Amirul Feisal said.

Malaysia has been rolling out industrial policies aimed at strengthening its role in the global chip supply chain.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had said in May 2024 the government aims to attract at least RM500 billion (S$158.6 billion) in semiconductor investment, supported by at least US$5.3 billion in fiscal incentives, and that it plans to build up local capabilities in chip design and advanced packaging.

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Khazanah invests in Malaysia and internationally across markets, asset classes, sectors and geographies and counts the country’s second-largest lender CIMB Group and national carrier Malaysia Aviation Group among its portfolio.

Its net asset value rose 22 per cent to RM103.6 billion (S$32.9 billion) in 2024 from RM84.8 billion a year earlier.

Amirul Feisal said Khazanah expected its international portfolio share to rise gradually over time.

Asked about the ringgit, he said there was “room” for the currency to strengthen depending on the US dollar, citing uncertainty over the path of US interest rates, although he did not specify a level. REUTERS