Abu Dhabi SWF sends $1bn to Malaysia

The $14.7 billion Mubadala Development of Abu Dhabi is believed to be slating co-investments totalling $1 billion in the Malaysian energy, real estate and hospitality industries with a newly formed sovereign wealth fund from the Asian nation.

Najib Razak, prime minister of Malaysia, said one of the SWFs owned by the Abu Dhabi government would pursue the investments in partnership with 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), a new SWF formed in the expansion of the existing $2.8 billion Terengganu Investment Authority (TIA).

Speaking to Bernama, Malysia’s national news agency, Razak said: “We’re going to identify sectors [in which] they can co-invest with our SWF, especially in areas like energy, real estate and hospitality”.

Razak struck the agreement in recent days with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, who is also chairman of Mubadala.

The Malaysian Government stated that 1MDB would aim to make strategic global partnerships and promote foreign direct investment in Malaysia.

This follows the strategic, cross-border investment partnership forged between another Malaysian SWF, the $23 billion Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and the $27 billion Korea Investment Corporation in June.

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The Malaysian government has also announced that it aims to liberalise the conditions under which foreign investments in Malaysia are made.

Mubadala has already invested in an urban development project in Nusajaya, in Malaysia’s Iskandar Development Region, which aims to turn 642 acres of land into a modern residential and business community.

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