KUALA LUMPUR, July 31 — Foreign shareholding in Bursa Malaysia is expected to improve in the second half of 2023 (2H 2023) from the 20 per cent at present, prompted by the continuous inflows into the emerging market, including Malaysia, seen starting in July.

Bursa Malaysia Bhd chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar said the market is currently experiencing the reversal of flows coming back into the emerging market as interest rates peak in the developed countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe during the first half of this year.

He also said the valuation of emerging markets would be among other contributing factors to investors shifting pattern in 2H 2023.

"For the month of July, we have seen RM1.1 billion of net inflows, therefore, lowering the net outflow for the year to about RM3 billion.

"As foreign investors come back to our market, we expect the 20 per cent foreign shareholding to increase,” he told reporters at the exchange’s second quarter financial results briefing here today.

Abdul Wahid pointed out that the recently launched 10 years framework — Madani Economy: Empowering the People — was timely and provided clarity to investors on Malaysia’s economy as well as its holistic policies and executable projects.

He said the framework has spurred interest in the market, resulting in a robust Bursa Malaysia’s performance last week with the average daily trading value improving significantly to RM2.2 billion compared with RM1.9 billion for the month of July.

"Because of the broader economic conditions, with growth, equity and sustainability, we will be able to see continued interest in our public listed companies, not just from foreign investors but also from domestic and retail institutional investors.

"I think this is encouraging. We hope this momentum will continue in the second half (of the year),” he said.

Bursa Malaysia aims to have 1,000 public listed companies by year-end.

Under the Madani Economy: Empowering the People, Malaysia aims to elevate its economy to be among the world’s top 30 largest in less than 10 years from No. 37 in 2022 based on World Bank data.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that to achieve the ambitious target, the government would be focusing on greater regionalisation and competitiveness, prioritising economic complexity and moving up the value chain.

Economic restructuring towards making Malaysia an economic leader in Asia would be the main focus, he said. — Bernama