Can Khazanah fix Malaysia’s startup FOMO?

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Hello,

A while back, I had a chat with an old friend about the general elections in India, and the conversation drifted to her hometown, Jamshedpur. She suggested that the government should hand the city back to the Tata family, the folks who laid out and built it in the first place.

It got me thinking about how much we rely on private players like Tata to keep the nation running smoothly. I mean, it seems like whether it’s India, Vietnam, or anywhere else, countries need these companies in order to grow.

Developing nations often lure large firms with cheap labor, low taxes, or cool subsidies, but the game changes when countries have surplus cash.

These nations often invest in their own country via sovereign wealth funds. Norway, a country with the largest sovereign wealth fund, invests about 70% of capital back into equities.

In Southeast Asia, places like Malaysia and Singapore pump their extra cash back into their economies or into private businesses around the world.

This week’s first big story, penned by my colleague Emmanuel, dives into the impactful role of Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, in the country’s tech and startup scene.

However, the piece also explores its low contribution to the startup ecosystem, with only 4% of its investment portfolio in startups, as well as the fund’s missed opportunities.

In this week’s second big story, my colleague Huong sheds light on the electric vehicle giants in Vietnam who are challenging their Chinese counterparts.

Despite the fierce competition from Chinese firms, Nguyen Nguyen, co-founder and CEO of Selex Motors, expressed confidence during Tech in Asia’s Saigon Summit that the firm can make its EVs stand out due to their technology and price.

While in this week’s AI Odyssey, I discuss scientists making better robots from animal brains!

— Lokesh Choudhary

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THE BIG STORY

1️⃣ Mapping Khazanah’s role in Malaysia’s tech investments

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AI ODYSSEY

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FYI

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NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

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