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THE nation’s future economic competitiveness will increasingly depend on the private sector taking a leading role in financing businesses, as the government shifts its focus towards providing a stable policy environment and maintaining sound fiscal management, Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.
Delivering the keynote address at the RHB Progress Series 2026 on Thursday, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said sustainable economic growth required a financing ecosystem in which private investors and financial institutions were prepared to support emerging companies, new technologies and innovative business models, particularly before they generated proven commercial returns.
“Government can provide policy certainty and must ensure that the economic fundamentals remain stable and predictable. However, the market must be prepared to take risks, while investors need to support companies, technologies and new business models before their returns become clearly evident,” he said.
Amir said businesses require different forms of financing as they progress through each stage of development, beginning with seed capital before moving to larger funding requirements as they scale up and reach maturity.
“The strength of this financing ecosystem depends on the connectivity between each source of capital, so that companies that succeed at one stage are able to secure the funding needed to grow to the next stage,” he said.
He added that an integrated financing ecosystem would enable businesses to secure capital that matched their stage of development, creating a continuous funding pathway that supports enterprise growth, strengthens domestic investment and reinforces Malaysia's long-term economic resilience. - August 6, 2026
