KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — Government-linked investment companies (GLICs) and government-linked companies (GLCs) are stepping up their role in developing the domestic economy, backed by an additional RM120 billion under the GEAR-uP initiative over the next five years.
Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said more than RM20 billion was invested last year, with a similar level expected this year.
“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 said.
Amir was speaking to the media on the sidelines of the Employees Provident Fund International Social Wellbeing Conference 2026 today.
He added that the New Industrial Master Plan serves as a key guide for GLIC investments in sectors that are fundamental to advancing the national economy.
GLICs and GLCs are also supporting efforts to lift the floor through better wages, alongside efforts to lift the ceiling by increasing economic complexity, attracting higher-quality foreign and domestic investments, and creating better jobs.
More than 92 per cent of GLCs under GLICs have adopted the living wage since the beginning of this year.
Amir said the move sets a new benchmark for the private sector, demonstrating that companies can afford to pay workers more as productivity in the country improves.
“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.
GLCs are also supporting government programmes such as Bakat MADANI, which connects graduates from universities and technical and vocational education and training institutions with internship and training opportunities through the GLIC and GLC network.
Amir noted that 25,000 individuals would be given such opportunities this year and next year to help prepare Malaysia's talent pool as the economy becomes more complex.
GLIC investments are also being directed towards national priorities, including the ageing economy, with investments in companies providing care workers.
Meanwhile, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) has also 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.
