KEIL To Tap Into Technology-Enabled Sectors In Europe, Says PM Najib

LONDON, May 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak says the opening of Khazanah Europe Investment Ltd (KEIL) office here will provide Khazanah and its investee companies with extra exposure to developed markets and enable them to better evaluate opportunities in technology-enabled sectors in Europe. Khazanah already has regional bases in Istanbul, Beijing, Mumbai and San Francisco, and the fifth in London, headed by Executive Director Javier Santiso, would provide advice and support on investments in Europe which are of strategic interest to Khazanah, he said. "Despite the uncertain global conditions, we couldn't be without an office to tap into regional growth opportunities and help strengthen Malaysia's long-term competitiveness in the continent," he said when launching the office on the 22nd floor of an innovative architecture, The Shard. Najib, on a working visit to the United Kingdom (UK), said Europe offered attractive and resilient valuations of its companies, whereby 17 per cent of the world's billion dollar technology firms were founded here. Europe dominates the top 10 list by key innovation indicators, as it contains more than 40 technology start-ups with a collective value of more than US$120 billion, of which 34 per cent of the companies with a combined value of US$40.4 billion, were in the UK. In his remarks, Najib also rendered Malaysia's support for the UK to stay in the European Union as it was good for the UK and the rest of the world. He said the opening of KEIL would not only deepen the traditional relationship that Malaysia had with the UK but also Malaysia's commitment. Meanwhile, Khazanah Nasional, in a statement, said that the establishment of KEIL completed its planned network of overseas offices which had grown since the opening of its Beijing office in 2018. "We view Europe as an important market as it has proven to be a significant hub for technology firms, as well as, start-up and entrepreneurial ventures. "It is also home to many top-ranked universities which host state-of-the-art research facilities," said Managing Director Azman Mokhtar. Since the inception of KEIL in 2015, he said Khazanah had invested in Edinburgh-based Skyscanner Holdings Ltd and London-based Blippar.com. Ltd and Atomico. Skyscanner is a leading travel search engine with more than 50 million monthly visitors while Blippar is an augmented reality and visual discovery company and Atomico is a European-focused technology venture capital fund. Meanwhile, foreign assets accounted for 44.9 per cent of Khazanah's realisable asset value, as at end-2015. --BERNAMA