KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s economy is looking bright next year, despite the pressure from the United States-China trade dispute and slowing growth, says Aberdeen Standard Islamic Investments (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd CEO Gerald Ambrose (pix).
He said the country would do well following the stable currency and good outlook.
“The firmer US dollar is about to turn around, which will strengthen the ringgit against the greenback in line with the renminbi.
“There are tremendous opportunities for investors to come back and continue to invest in Malaysia,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Market Outlook Conference 2020 today.
Ambrose said the semiconductor sector hit the floor in September and October but demand for fifth-generation (5G) technology will be strong next year.
“I am cautiously optimistic that the Malaysian market, oil and gas sector, Information Technology, and manufacturing (sector), in particular, also have some catching up to do and the outlook is very bright,” he said.
He believed the sectors would see a pick-up in domestic demand and will be the ones to watch next year.
Meanwhile, he said foreign funds remained as net sellers on the local equities market as fear caused foreign investors to be cautious in the global market with a risk-off mode.
He said foreign shareholding could not get any lower and a pickup in the ringgit would be beneficial for foreign investors coming back in.
“If there is a pickup in the renminbi, there will be a pickup in all Asean currencies, which will lead to an outperformance of Asean markets, and we haven’t seen that in a long time,” he said, adding that foreigners feeling they had missed out, would come back in. – Bernama
