Sabah businesses offered broader capital market funding options

Sabah’s smaller enterprises and mid-tier companies are being offered wider access to capital market funding through a Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) initiative. The financing routes cover businesses seeking early-stage capital as well as those pursuing public listings.

Speaking at the Kembara Borneo-Sabah roadshow, SC chairman Datuk Mohammad Faiz Azmi linked the effort to the regulator’s Capital Market Masterplan 2026-2030. About 200 people attended, representing business associations, public agencies, capital market intermediaries and entrepreneurs.

Faiz said the SC planned to work with the Economy Ministry on a strategic co-investment fund for high-growth, high-value sectors under the 13th Malaysia Plan. Its objectives include bringing in private capital and giving smaller businesses more financing choices.

He said the Malaysia Co-Investment Fund (MyCIF) had helped mobilise RM7.7 billion for more than 11,500 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since 2019. Under the SC-managed initiative, private investors and the fund jointly finance MSMEs through equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer platforms.

Faiz also cited more than RM243 million raised through public-private financing under NIMP CoSIF. The SC and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry launched the RM131.5 million initiative on 25 February 2025 to finance MSMEs and mid-tier businesses operating in strategic, high-impact manufacturing sectors.

Sabah’s potential in agriculture, manufacturing and tourism prompted its selection for the roadshow. Agriculture made up 13.9 per cent of the state’s GDP in 2025; manufacturing recorded growth of five per cent and drew RM7.6 billion in investments.

The outreach series started in Penang in August, focusing on financing for semiconductor businesses and their supply chains. A further event in Selangor is scheduled before year-end.