KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), together with other Government-Linked Investment Companies (GLICs), is committed to driving the 10 Bumiputera Champions initiative to create 10 companies, each with a market capitalisation or enterprise value of at least RM500 million by 2030.
PNB deputy president and group chief executive Datuk Rick Ramli said this initiative under the Government-linked Enterprises Activation and Reform Programme (GEAR-uP), which forms part of the Madani Economy agenda, aims to drive sustainable growth and empower the bumiputera community.
“The GLICs are in the process of evaluating and shortlisting companies for the activation of the support phase.
“Nearly 170 companies have undergone the initial screening, and 30-40 companies are being scrutinised further to pass through the screening and will be shortlisted to 10 companies in the first quarter of 2026,” he said in an interview with Bernama recently.
A total of six GLICs are involved, namely PNB, Retirement Fund (Incorporated) (KWAP), the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) and the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT).
Rick said this initiative aligns with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s call for GLICs and GLCs to empower Bumiputera economic development under the Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 (PuTERA35) to produce five to 10 successful bumiputera companies.
Under this initiative, PNB and other GLICs will empower the growth of bumiputera companies by identifying companies with strong fundamentals and potential, and supporting them to reach new heights.
This support includes capacity building, facilitating market access through GLIC’s extensive network, providing strategic guidance to accelerate expansion, and developing a value-creation plan with management to design a tailored growth strategy that unlocks long-term value.
“Bumiputera companies still face challenges in growing, building capacity, market access, funding and so on, and this limits the ability of bumiputera companies to access the capital market, hence not many new bumiputera companies are listed on Bursa Malaysia,” he said.
A total of RM40 million has been approved in Budget 2026 to accelerate the scaling-up of high-potential bumiputera companies.
Rick said the target enterprise value of RM500 million is the entry point for the company to be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.
“At the end of the five-year period, if this initiative is successful, the companies will be at scale and will have the ability to access the capital market and have the potential to be listed through the initial public offering (IPO), though the listing decision will still be up to the management.
“This listing step will enable them to attract new investments from shareholders and the public,” he added. — Bernama
