THE RM120 billion investment planned by government-linked investment companies (GLICs) under the GEAR-uP initiative must translate into higher productivity, better-paid jobs and a more complex economy, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.
He said more than RM20 billion had already been invested last year, with a similar amount expected this year, as GLICs direct capital towards sectors identified as important to Malaysia’s economic development.
“So that means that target is now translating on the ground. The types of investments that they were looking at, in the discussion that we are having with GLICs, are actually aligned with the national aspiration,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) International Social Wellbeing Conference 2026 in Kuala Lumpur today.
Amir said the New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP) was guiding GLIC investment towards sectors that could strengthen the domestic economy and increase its economic complexity.
He said the investment push also had to be accompanied by efforts to raise the wage floor, while businesses improved productivity and moved into higher-value activities.
More than 92 per cent of GLCs under GLICs had adopted the living wage since the beginning of this year, he said.
Amir said the move demonstrated that companies could pay higher wages as productivity improved, while putting pressure on the wider private sector to compete for talent.
“Hopefully, we will continue this effort to drive it along the way and provide competition within it to pool talent so that the other private sectors will have to react to that,” he said.
He said the approach reflected the broader objective of lifting both the floor and ceiling of the economy — raising workers’ incomes while increasing economic complexity, attracting higher-quality domestic and foreign investment and creating better jobs.
The GLIC and GLC investment agenda is also being linked to Malaysia’s future talent requirements.
Amir said GLCs were supporting Bakat MADANI, which connects university and technical and vocational education and training graduates with internship and training opportunities through the GLIC and GLC network.
Some 25,000 individuals would be offered such opportunities this year and next year, he said, as Malaysia prepares its workforce for a more complex economy.
GLIC investments are also being directed towards national priorities, including the ageing economy.
Amir added that investments had been made in companies providing care workers, while Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) had invested in retirement villages.
“What is important for the GLIC and GLC is actually to look at what the national priority is and try to find things that are relevant to the national agenda,” he said. - September 29, 2026
