CGS International Securities Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. (CGS MY), an integrated financial services provider, said Wednesday that looking ahead, Malaysia is well positioned to continue to retain its top spot in ASEAN for Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) listings and funds raising.

The firm’s Chief Executive Officer (designate) Khairi Shahrin Arief Baki said in a statement that with seven more listings in the pipeline for 2025 topping off the year with 59 listings, Malaysia’s IPO momentum is strong.

“Interest in Malaysia will remain high as the Securities Commission Malaysia’s recent consultation paper proposing a major update to Malaysia’s listing requirements for both the Main and ACE Markets in 2026 will be closely followed by the local and regional capital markets to see if it will further enhance Malaysia as a destination for IPOs,” he noted.

Meanwhile, he said the firm has maintained a constructive view on the Malaysian market into 2026, on the back of calming external headwinds and growing domestic tailwinds.

“We are confident in Malaysia’s potential as a safe haven against ongoing global uncertainties (US-China) and bubbling tensions (China-Japan) driven by major powers, through Malaysia’s strategic location, supportive policy direction in high-growth-high-value sectors and strong domestic focus,” he added.

It is noted that ASEAN has been a global beacon of relative stability and an economic bloc that has been growing in significance.

Within this context, Malaysia’s economic and political relevance, as demonstrated by the government’s astute diplomatic and economic care in navigating the global trade relationships and rising tensions, has positioned the country as a leader and partner within the bloc and externally.

As the yardstick for business perception and sentiment, it noted trade volume and values on Bursa Malaysia have remained largely resilient supported by domestic than foreign participation.

Its performance rebounded post tariff-jitters to record a steady uptick from the April 2025 dip to 1,619.63 and 11.818.32 points for the FBM KLCI and FBM Emas indices respectively.

Externally, the firm noted that geopolitical trade tensions that arose earlier this year are ebbing.

US imposed reciprocal tariffs have been revised lower for most countries compared to the initial proposed rates on Liberation Day.

In the case of Malaysia, the reciprocal tariff was reduced from 24 percent to 19 percent.

Malaysia will also have a significant proportion of its exports to the US being exempted from the reciprocal tariffs – over 60 percent by the house’s calculations, which is one of the highest in ASEAN.

With the US Fed recently resuming its rate cut cycle, and with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) likely staying pat on the Overnight Policy Rate (OPR) into 2026, a narrowing of interest rate differentials should be positive for the ringgit and Malaysian stock market, judging from historical trends.

“To date, Malaysia’s investment growth is anchored in the country’s strong fundamentals: political and policy stability, fiscal discipline, and sound governance. CGS MY remains committed to supporting these strengths through our capital-market leadership, especially in driving more collaborations with our ASEAN and China networks and at the same time, contribute to sustainability thought leadership,

“The year 2025 has set a strong foundation for us to build further on the strong investor confidence, bolstered by regulatory efficiency and a diverse and healthy listing pipeline coming from various sectors including consumer goods, healthcare, logistics and technology to capture and convert the interest to tangible deals,” said Khairi Shahrin.

Domestically, since helming the administration, the firm highlighted that MADANI government has embarked on several economic reform measures to broaden the public revenue base and rationalize subsidies to ensure responsible fiscal consolidation.

The merits from its reform efforts are already showing with the fiscal deficit narrowing from 5.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 to a projected 3.8 percent in 2025 and 3.5 percent in 2026, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Fiscal discipline aside, the government has also crafted several strategic plans under the MADANI Economy umbrella – such as the National Energy Transition Roadmap (NETR) and New Industrial Master Plan (NIMP 2030) – to drive growth and take a renewed approach to elevate Malaysia’s position over the next decade.

The rollout of these strategic plans has helped boost approved investments in Malaysia to hit a record MYR 379 billion ($92.01 billion) in 2024, surpassing the previous highs in 2021 (MYR 309 billion [$75.02 billion]) and 2023 (MYR 330 billion [$80.12 billion]).

Despite the higher base, approved investments for the first nine months of this year remained robust at MYR 285 billion ($69.19 billion), representing a 13.2 percent growth compared to the same period last year – putting it on track to hit another record high in 2025.

With 2026 earmarked for the Visit Malaysia Year 2026 (VMY2026) campaign, the country is also targeting tourist arrivals of 31 million and tourist receipts of MYR 147.1 million ($35.71 million).

This translates to a two-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent and 20 percent respectively, compared to the 2024 baseline.

Stocks in industries related to the tourism landscape such as aviation, consumer retail, healthcare and real estate investment trusts (REITs) with prime malls and hotels should garner investor interest.

In addition, recently listed Aquawalk Group offers a good proxy to the VMY2026 play.

CGS offers Malaysia’s first publicly available CME Crypto Futures