Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli does not expect any direct impact on Malaysian companies arising from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
Replying to a Twitter user who has asked him if the “SVB crash wave could reach Malaysia”, Rafizi said it likely will not as no Malaysian firm has deposits at SVB.
He said it is mostly the big startups in Silicon Valley that had accounts at SVB.
“But if the collapse drags the US banking and the capital markets temporarily, it might have some drags on us too albeit at a much smaller scale,”he said.
The fallout from SVB has sent ripples across the world since last week.
Meanwhile, Reuters reported on Sunday (March 12) that British start-ups backed by venture capital have around £2.5 billion pounds (RM13.6 billion), largely in deposits, “locked” in Silicon Valley Bank’s UK subsidiary.
The total includes more than 300 companies with accounts at SVB UK, more than a third of which risk running into cash-flow difficulty within a month if no solution is found for the ailing lender, the survey found.
Regulatory disclosures show SVB had some US$2.9 billion worth of loans at its UK arm at the end of last year, along with more than US$1 billion in bonds.
The total volume of deposits at the British subsidiary is unclear, said Reuters.
Chuping Valley to attract RM2.5b committed investments
Meanwhile in Parliament, The economy Minister said the Chuping Valley Industrial Area (CVIA) in Perlis is projected to attract committed investments totalling RM2.5 billion and create 1,870 job opportunities following its full completion.
Rafizi said CVIA, an integrated industrial park developed by the Northern Corridor Implementing Authority (NCIA), aims to attract investments especially in high-impact sectors including green manufacturing, renewable energy and halal industries.
“As of Jan 31, 2023, the CVIA infrastructure development has achieved 89.4 per cent completion and is expected to be fully completed in the first quarter of 2023,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today (March 13).
The minister was replying to a query from Datuk Seri Shahidan Kasim (PN-Arau) regarding the implementation status of the CVIA and Perlis Inland Port (PIP) projects.
On PIP, Rafizi said the Federal Government has approved the development expenditure financing for this public-private partnership project’s supporting infrastructure comprising three components — bonded road, flyover and spur line.
“Up to Jan 31, 2023, the development of the bonded road component has recorded 40.25 per cent completion.
“Meanwhile, the flyover and spur line components are still in the initial stage of works with physical progress at 1.41 per cent,” he said.
He said PIP’s external infrastructure development is expected to be fully completed in the fourth quarter of 2024 in line with the completion of the PIP components being developed by the Perlis state government.
