New appointments to the Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Development Council

• The Council members were appointed by the Minister of Finance.
• The MVCDC is chaired by the SC chairman Syed Zaid Albar

THE Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) on April 16 announced new members of the Malaysian Venture Capital and Private Equity Development Council (MVCDC). The Council members were appointed by the Minister of Finance.

The MVCDC was established in 2005 as an inter-ministerial council with representatives from both the public and private sectors to provide vision and direction, advise the government and facilitate greater coordination of strategies for the overall development of the venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) industry.

The MVCDC is chaired by the SC chairman Syed Zaid Albar. The SC’s deputy chief executive Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin is also a member of the Council.

The new MVCDC members, appointed for a term of two years from March 1 March , are:

1. Dr. Mohd Azhar Haji Yahaya - Secretary General, Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc)
2. Suhara Salleh - Deputy Director (General Services Sector), National Budget Office, Ministry of Finance
3. Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir - CEO, Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas)
4. Dr. V. Sivapalan - President, Malaysian Business Angels Network (MBAN)
5. Surina Shukri - CEO, Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
6. Victor Chua - President, Malaysian VC and PE Association (MVCA)
7. Mohd Irwan Ahmad Mustafa - Senior Vice President and Head of Private Investments, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB)

Given the importance of VC and PE financing in spurring entrepreneurship and catalysing the government’s efforts to move the country towards a high-income value-add economy, the MVCDC has undertaken various initiatives in close engagement with the government to accelerate the industry’s growth.

These include measures to enhance tax incentives, attract investments by corporates, encourage entry of foreign industry players, streamline government funding and expand pool of industry professionals.

The SC’s chairmanship of the MVCDC is in line with its role as the capital market regulator which includes overseeing the development of alternative funding channels such as VC and PE, as well as equity crowdfunding and peer-to-peer financing.