- 16 hours ago
What powers Selangor’s socio-economic engine? Join Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar, CEO of PNSB, as he shares insights on driving growth, value creation, and socio-economic impact in Selangor.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:08Thank you for joining us. This is The Economy. I'm your host, Ibrahim Sani.
00:11I'm currently in the office of Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad here in Sya'alam,
00:16having a conversation with their CEO, Yang Mulia Raja Syahri Iskandar.
00:21Syahri, thank you for taking the time to speak with us.
00:23Maybe you can walk through, before we deep dive into the kind of work that you do,
00:27what does the mandate of PNSB, the kind of work that you do and the kind of mission and goal
00:37that you want to achieve?
00:38Thank you, Ibrahim Sani, for hosting me today. It's a privilege to be able to have a conversation with you
00:46this morning.
00:47So, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad is one of the state JLC in the state of Selangor.
00:53There are a couple of JLCs, but PNSB was one of the first to be established in the state in
01:001990.
01:01So, the mandate during that period, I guess, was more to develop the state in terms of development
01:09because the population was starting to grow at that time.
01:13There are a lot of new population growth areas which were starting to sprout at the beginning.
01:22And we needed some entity, basically, to help guide the development of the state.
01:31Of course, state matters includes land, minerals and whatnot.
01:36So, the state, I think, had a look into how we can perhaps guide and take part and participate in
01:43terms of the development
01:44and not leaving it just to the private sector.
01:47So, the mandate for PNSB at that time was to be a catalyst for development in certain parts of the
01:55state.
01:57Is it fully funded by the state of Selangor?
02:02The development that we are talking about is mostly catalytic development at that time.
02:07So, what we do is, at the start, is mostly partnerships with private entities.
02:15There are a couple that we see now.
02:18So, in 1990, the state, of course, is very different from what we see now.
02:25New areas or areas that we are very familiar with currently were not present 35 years ago.
02:33So, PNSB was involved in new areas such as, at that time, Bandar Baru Klang and also Saujana Putra and
02:43the areas below as well.
02:45So, these areas now are very established but at that time, there were hardly any development.
02:51Yeah, we are talking in the 90s, right?
02:52Yeah, in the 90s.
02:53So, in order for us to ensure that this development happens, not just in the major conurbation areas, but in
03:03the basically periphery of these conurbation areas.
03:09So, PNSB would try to guide and participate in terms of the development in these places.
03:15So, how far has PNSB evolved from the early years of inception to today in 2026?
03:23Has a lot changed or have you stuck with your original goals and your original targets?
03:30Okay.
03:31Well, in terms of the original goal, I mentioned development earlier.
03:37But at the same time, also, PNSB were involved in other things as well.
03:42If you know InvestLangor, I think InvestLangor at one time was part of PNSB.
03:48Oh, sorry, I didn't know this.
03:50So, basically, to attract investments to the state, there was an office below or within PNSB to execute such functions.
04:00Tourism, Selangor as well.
04:03Earlier was also under Selangor before it was separated as a separate entity.
04:10So, PNSB at that time, in the early stages, played a major role in many aspects of the development of
04:18the state
04:18through attracting investments, through creating awareness about tourism in the state as well.
04:27Apart from the development that I mentioned earlier.
04:29Let's talk about some of the exciting things that PNSB is currently doing.
04:33One of them is the housing project.
04:35Maybe we can talk more on that.
04:37Okay, so, as part of the development in the state, there is a need to balance between commercial development,
04:49residential, middle, high-end development, and basically affordable development as well.
04:57So, we could see that there was a shift, perhaps in the late 2000s and onwards towards development of luxury
05:07or middle to luxury housing.
05:12So, there is a gap between this kind of products as well as more affordable products.
05:20So, the state came up with the idea of developing this Rumah Selangor Ku.
05:26So, Rumah Selangor Ku is basically an affordable housing development.
05:31When you see major or master plan or master development areas such as big, big developments by big developers,
05:42the policy by the state that was imposed then is that part of that development, around 40% of the
05:50development must be for affordable units.
05:53When it's a requirement by the state to develop this 40% units, sometimes some developers, they choose to develop
06:05slightly later this development, this development, affordable housing.
06:09So, the, how do we push and do, how do we ensure that this 40% units are developed?
06:17That was RSKU or Rumah Selangor Ku first phase.
06:21But as we went along, this has been refined even further.
06:25So, we have RSKU 2 and RSKU 3.
06:28And at the same time also, we have in 2019, Rumah Idaman development, an idea where we develop certain price
06:37range of product, typically high-rise, at the affordable range.
06:44Rumah Selangor Ku, in the earlier times, the price range from $42,000 up to $250,000.
06:52But, of course, now, to develop a house at $42,000 is almost impossible because of the rise of raw
07:01materials and whatnot.
07:03So, and of course, in terms of income, salary also has changed since the early 2000.
07:12I remember, I think, in 2000, when I bought my first house at that time, it cost around $200,000
07:22at that time for a landed link house.
07:26It's impossible to find such units.
07:30And that was in a very major area as well.
07:34But nowadays, we need to be able to provide opportunity for people to buy a unit that they can afford,
07:44especially young families who've just started their life, marriage life and whatnot, to be able to have and own a
07:54house or own a living quarters or living landed property or high-rise.
08:02So, Rumah Edaman was born in 2019 to serve this purpose.
08:08It cost $250,000.
08:12The first project was delivered in 2022, mere three years after the development of the idea.
08:23And so far, the journey of Rumah Edaman also has been quite successful.
08:27And from what I understand, it is not just located within one area of Selangor, but in various areas.
08:36So, how do we, what is the strategy for this Rumah Edaman?
08:42In terms of the spread, in terms of the pricing, in terms of the spec of the product.
08:49So, it's not only based in Meiji areas.
08:53We have delivered Rumah Edaman in Kajang, in Bukit Julutong, and various areas as well.
09:01But there are also new developments or under construction in various areas in Cha'alam, in Cyberjaya, and also up
09:13to Sabak Bernam.
09:14So, Rumah Edaman exists all the way from the north of Selangor, Sabak Bernam, all the way to the south
09:22in Sepang.
09:23It's spread out.
09:25And so far, the uptake or the demand for such affordable housing is fantastic.
09:32What I understand is that it's not cheap building cheap houses.
09:37How true is this statement?
09:39It's not cheap.
09:41In fact, if you look at the facade of Rumah Edaman, high-rise, you probably can or hardly could differentiate
09:50it with the medium high-rise development.
09:53It's a very decent, nice facade with very good facilities.
09:59Of course, the facilities would depend on the development and the area as well.
10:03Certain Rumah Edaman, in fact, comes with a swimming pool, a gym as well.
10:11And there are Rumah Edaman, which comes with a running track as well.
10:17So, how is this possible, right?
10:21You are able to deliver affordable housing with good facilities, almost to the level of a condominium at 250,000.
10:29On top of that, in terms of the spec of the units, it comes with semi-furnishing as well.
10:38You have air-cons, three air-con units.
10:42You have water heater.
10:45You have part-part furnishing as well, wardrobes for your bedrooms.
10:52And also, TV cabinet as well.
10:56So, in terms of the product itself, it's very, very, very, very good.
11:04How does this tie into the op-ed that you wrote in a publication a few weeks ago about public
11:12investment?
11:12And how the new money that comes in is needed from the public sector to ensure that there is a
11:25form of a sustainable financing pipeline in order for projects like this
11:31and development projects that can continue on to support the growth of not just Selangor but, generally speaking, the nation?
11:41Do you feel that public investment inflow is slowing down?
11:46Or do you feel that it can be reinvigorated further?
11:48Or intensified further?
11:49What's your thoughts on this?
11:51Okay, apart from development, property development, PNSB is also involved in venture capital.
12:01So, we feel that this venture capital space is an area where a lot of start-ups or series A
12:10or series B companies need to grow.
12:15So, there are a couple of opportunities here.
12:19So, apart from property development, you have the opportunity to allow people to have jobs, basically job opportunities, right?
12:28You create the momentum for businesses, smaller businesses to grow.
12:36So, for example, one of our investment is in iMotorBike.
12:41iMotorBike is basically a purchase and selling platform for motorbikes.
12:48If you heard of Qasem, I mean, who hasn't, right?
12:50Yeah, who hasn't.
12:52So, it's similar but basically it's for motorbikes.
12:55So, small investment in this company because we feel that, look, this is an opportunity for an ecosystem of job
13:04opportunities as well.
13:05So, Selangor also has an entity or a company, sorry, I think it's like an agency and a training facility
13:19under STDC, Selangor Training and Development Corp.
13:31So, for iMotorBike, what we did was we basically connected the two, STDC and iMotorBike, since we have a slight
13:43investment.
13:43So, STDC will be able to send some of the trainees to be part of iMotorBike training system for a
13:56certain period of time.
13:59So, this is some of the, what do you call, benefit of being in this Selangor ecosystem as well.
14:07At the same time also what we did was we supported iMotorBike in terms of sales location or in fact
14:17places where they are able to do their checks on the potential purchase of their motorbikes in certain areas.
14:26So, we connected them as well to majlis, so certain majlis within the state, various majlis throughout the state.
14:35So, I think they had, in fact they had a couple of locations within Shell as well, Shell stage petrol
14:40station as well.
14:41So, yeah, but all of this would require certain network and ability to get the certain approvals.
14:50So, in that sense we try to support that as well.
14:54But that would also mean you would need a rather robust investment team to not just look at investments that
15:02could give potential returns,
15:04but investments that would fit in your Selangor ecosystem as well.
15:10How would you describe your investment side? Are they as robust as you would like?
15:15Do you want them to do more? And of course, in fact, are you fundraising so that you can increase
15:20your firepower so that you can invest in more areas?
15:24Yes, definitely we are raising funds as well. If you've heard of the, perhaps one or two years prior, the
15:40need for us to pursue a semi-conductor, basically strategy.
15:46So, I think the state also is very involved in this area. What happened was that the state has been
15:59involved in terms of getting the right talent in attracting some companies,
16:07especially from overseas to be located within the state, especially start-ups to basically be located here, attract some of
16:22the graduates to work in these companies,
16:26also involved in training some of these graduates to be able to participate as employees in some of these companies
16:35as well.
16:35So, are we talking about SIDEC and their training firm, ASEM, in the park in Puchong and in Cyberjaya,
16:45where there is a clear momentum and a clear direction by the Menteri Besar of Selangor and perhaps supporting the
16:56federal's national semi-conductor strategy as well?
16:59Yes.
17:00These are very interesting times, I would argue, because we've seen the federal government making an engagement with large IP
17:14holder companies like Arm Technology
17:16and trying to see if these companies that are based in Selangor, for instance, try to get the IP and
17:26the compute subsystem CSS, Arm Tokens.
17:31These are fantastic ideas. Do you feel that it doesn't put into a rivalry between Selangor and Penang, for instance?
17:41And how does this fit in the whole Selangor ecosystem? I'm pretty sure it's very much complementary, no?
17:47Yes, I would say it's more complementary because in Penang, the focus is more towards the tail end of the
17:56value chain. It's mostly assembly and packaging.
18:02Fabication, assembly, packaging, perhaps even distribution.
18:06So in Selangor, I guess it's more towards the front end. So you have basically start-ups in terms of
18:13semi-conductor design.
18:15So this more requires basically development of IPs or basically leveraging of existing IPs to develop semi-conductors which are
18:27specific for certain functions.
18:29So it could be used in cars, it could be used in basically aeronautics, robotics, there's a lot of applications.
18:37There's a lot of applications. In fact, in your phone, there's so many types of semi-conductors as well.
18:44So the idea is there are a lot of tailor-made applications that requires a specific use of some of
18:52these semi-conductors.
18:54So we have a couple of start-ups that come from Taiwan, from France.
19:05And these are, in fact, surprisingly Malaysians. Malaysians who have been living overseas but have always wanted to contribute back
19:14to the country.
19:15And one company is called We Rock.
19:17Yeah, We Rock from, I think they are based in Paris actually.
19:22Yeah.
19:23Actually, but they've come back.
19:24Because it's a Malaysian.
19:25It's a Malaysian.
19:26The founder, yeah.
19:27And they're focused in aerospace, aerospace industry.
19:31Yeah.
19:32Of course you have also Datuk Poa, from Haizen.
19:36Yeah, Haizen.
19:36Haizen, Taiwan also.
19:38Oh, legendary figure.
19:38Legendary figure.
19:40So yeah, he's also set up the, his outfit in Puchong.
19:45Oh, he has.
19:47Familiar, unfamiliar.
19:48So I think all this effort needs to be, needs to have the involvement of, you know, the public side
19:55as well.
19:55You know, the state.
19:56So because I think it's partly the effort of the state to set up this location for them.
20:03You know, at certain, with certain incentives in order for them to turn back to the country.
20:10Yeah.
20:10And also source some of the talents required.
20:14All this, there is basically direct involvement from the state as well as the federal government.
20:21Let's talk about talent because that's my day job, I suppose.
20:25I fear the talent supply is in dire shape.
20:30Have you seen or heard the comments that the talent supply side is shaping up?
20:38Do you feel that we have the necessary infrastructure and institutions to support talent development,
20:45especially in this new area of growth front-end, you know, semi-con chip design, for instance?
20:53And where does PNSB come in that space?
20:58Do you feel that you need to get involved there as well in terms of assisting the ecosystem to grow
21:03further in the talent development side?
21:05Okay.
21:07Well, I foresee that every company or entity has their own role.
21:13So for example, our sister company, SIDEC, they have their own role.
21:18Asim have their own role.
21:20PNSB's role is mostly on the investment side.
21:23So what we do is we participate in the fundraising and we invest in some of these companies that are
21:31back in Malaysia, for example.
21:34So that we are able to help basically grow these companies through investment.
21:44That is PNSB's role. Asim is more on the talent development.
21:50So I think we make sure that there are clear roles for each entity to play.
21:57And ours is basically focusing on investment.
22:01Let's talk about something that I've always thought about when it comes to strategic business school kind of thing.
22:12I think the age of, and please don't take this the wrong way, but I think the age of conglomerates
22:17is nearing an end.
22:19I feel that companies either state or publicly linked or private companies tend to do better if it's isolated.
22:29And PNSB is a very traditional conglomerate where there's property side, there's investment side, there's various other areas.
22:37Do you feel that there is a place for PNSB to continue as is?
22:42Or do you feel that there could be some areas of focus?
22:44I mean, Invest Langhor, for instance, was spun off to be the investment call-out arm for the state.
22:50Do you think that the idea of breaking up a conglomerate like PNSB should be entertained or the role of
22:58what you do today is still very much crucial where you put together everything in one house?
23:02Well, how I see this is that, yes, you could say that a lot of companies are not very focused.
23:11But PNSB in terms of our role, apart from property development, we are involved in a few other things as
23:18well.
23:19Aeronautics, for instance.
23:20Okay, so we are involved in insurance booking.
23:25So we have insurance booking.
23:26We also have the investment side.
23:30In future also, we will have a couple of other areas as well, potentially, aviation for example.
23:38So the idea is that these are, in a way, how we operate is that, well, we sort of have
23:47the capability to focus in these specific areas anyway.
23:54So in terms of property development, I think that's given.
23:58Insurance booking, rather than we spun off, we've been involved in this area for many, many years.
24:05Actually, yeah.
24:07And in fact, we are serving not only the state, but also open market.
24:12So in terms of insurance booking on its own, it's successful.
24:18So unless there is a need where, you know, that this insurance booking is not performing, then perhaps we need
24:29to start looking into isolating it and basically focusing it in order for it to improve.
24:35But somehow, it's sort of complementary as well.
24:39Because for example, if we have development and we need insurance services, then we already have an existing entity to
24:46support our insurance requirement.
24:49And these properties, are they being insured by sister companies?
24:54Yeah. Well, where we can, yes. Where we can, we of course, we will try to do it together.
25:01Not only, I mean, Rumahidaman ke, but others as well.
25:06Okay, so 2026 is still young. What are the thinking that you have right now that you want to share
25:12in terms of the plans that you intend to achieve this year?
25:17And how does PNSB put prioritisation in terms of what you need to do for the next few years to
25:23come?
25:23Right. In terms of the next five years, we need to be very focused in what we want to deliver.
25:34In fact, we want to expand. My goal, my ambition and goal is basically to serve the state in order
25:46for it to grow further.
25:47So how do I do that? How do I ensure that the state, Selangor, is able to basically grow?
25:54I mean, it's one of the, of course, the highest contributing state to the GDP at around 20, almost 26
26:03% of the GDP.
26:06How do we push that even further? You see that Selangor is mostly an industrial state.
26:11But there are certain areas of the state, locations of the state that are not sort of fully developed as
26:20well.
26:21So you have areas like to the coastal areas, for example, Morib going down.
26:28These are still very traditional in a way.
26:33And also ready for development. You have future development like third port in Kerry Island.
26:41And of course you have certain areas like Sabak Bernam as well, which is mostly, I would say, agriculture focused.
26:51So how do we ensure that there is support for the development of these locations?
26:57The state itself has a certain plan, a plan called Sabda for the northern area.
27:05And then we have Idris as well for the southern area.
27:10So the plan is there. How do we, how are we able to execute some of these plans?
27:16So for us, for example, what we do is for Sabda, I said, okay, how can we immediately ensure that
27:24there is some catalytic development?
27:31So now we have the WCE going north, which is partly completed.
27:38So in order for us to generate job opportunities, traffic and whatnot, we said, okay, let's start developing, for example,
27:49R&R along the route of the WCE.
27:55So this year, what we'll do is we'll start development of R&R along this route for the north.
28:03For the southern area, for Idris, what we intend to do is that try to develop attractions as well as
28:14some sort of future development together with our partner.
28:18So there's a golf course in Morib. We work together with a certain party, with a private party as well
28:28as a federal GLC in order to develop this area in Idris.
28:34And in the central area, we have, for example, Kerry Island.
28:38So Kerry Island, I think it's a future development for the state.
28:43Once we have the third port, of course, we have existing ports, the west port and north port as well,
28:49which I think will ensure that Kerry Island will play a significant role soon.
28:54So we have come up with some plans, basically, in order for us to develop.
29:00But those are part examples of development.
29:03At the same time also, how do we ensure that all these developments are able to sustain in the next
29:09couple of years?
29:11So we talk about infrastructure as well in future. The reason why Selangor is an industrial state partly is because
29:19of the existence of good infrastructure.
29:22We have airports, we have ports, we have highways to connect all of them.
29:28But these highways now are focused mostly within major areas like major innovation areas.
29:35But I think for these new areas like, you know, Morib or Kerry Island or going to the north, we
29:43need to have significant upgrades to highways, for example, roads, roads, infrastructure.
29:52So perhaps this is a direction that we should look into in the next couple of years.
29:59For us to ensure that these developments in the areas that I just mentioned can be sustainable.
30:06Final question that I want to explore are challenges and risks.
30:11What would be your biggest challenge that you need to navigate or the biggest risk that you need to mitigate
30:18right now?
30:19Is it political risk? Is it something else?
30:22Well, of course, project-wise, there are certain risks, right, that you have to look into.
30:28We, as far as possible, will try to minimize risk.
30:33When it comes to, for example, development.
30:36The state, we will always try to minimize risk.
30:39But of course, with risk comes reward.
30:42The higher risk you take, the higher the reward is.
30:45So we have to balance between these two things.
30:50But at the same time, of course, we try to be risk adverse.
30:54Because I think we need to be careful in terms of taking too much risk.
31:02But of course, when we go into investment, definitely there will be risk.
31:06When you go into venture capital, typically, out of sometimes, out of 10 investments,
31:11nine investments would fail.
31:12One investment would succeed.
31:15This is typical, but sometimes people are not aware of such facts.
31:19They would think, oh, you know, you're focused on certain failures.
31:24But sometimes, the one success that you have is able to basically cover the nine failures that you have.
31:31So this is basically the industry that you go into.
31:36So, despite of that, we try as much as possible to minimize investment into, you know, companies that are perhaps
31:48a bit of a higher risk.
31:49We take that into account.
31:52In terms of other challenges, well, of course, development requires a lot of funding, requires a lot of buy-in.
32:03That requires a lot of effort.
32:04It's pretty challenging because you have a lot of stakeholders that you need to convince, right?
32:10Well, partly the state, partly the public, partly, of course, the people who live in these areas.
32:20Of course, we need to ensure that this development is sustainable.
32:24As much as possible, we want to ensure that this development is also environmental, friendly, etc., etc.
32:35Doing, getting all of this is part of our job as well.
32:40I would say that is probably the most significant challenge that we face at the moment.
32:45As part of our social obligation as well, we don't focus on just profit-making developments.
32:53We have this obligation as well to serve the rakyat, serve the people.
32:58So, one of the projects that we are currently doing is called Complex Islam, Gomba.
33:06Particularly located in Wiradamai, Kampung Wiradamai, in Gomba.
33:13One of the ideas that I try to pursue in PNSB is that our development should not be just a
33:21typical development.
33:22As in commercially driven development?
33:25Basically, this is a mosque plus some other facilities as well.
33:30Okay.
33:31So, what we do is, when we want to do a mosque, typically what we see, what is available, most
33:39of the mosques are inspired by certain regions.
33:41For example, in the Middle East.
33:43So, why not we have a mosque that is inspired by our culture, our identity?
33:54So, this mosque basically, we did a little bit of research internally.
33:59We looked at some examples of mosque design or aesthetic that are available.
34:05So, one of the things or mosque design that we looked into is the Masjid Kampung Laut in Kelantan.
34:13And also in Indonesia, Masjid Agong Demak.
34:17So, this is basically Nusantara design, mosque, where you have three layers of roof.
34:25Partly, okay, design wise, aesthetic wise, let's use our culture and our identity.
34:31Apart from that as well, in terms of the facilities that are available, in terms of innovation that we need
34:40to include in the design of our facilities to ensure convenience.
34:48For example, a place for ablution, the toilets.
34:53So, how do we ensure that we minimize, perhaps, feed getting wet once you leave the ablution area and the
35:04toilet and you enter the mosque?
35:05So that we practice what we say, which is Islam, ataupun iman, ataupun kebersihan adalah separuh daripada iman.
35:14So, we want to ensure that we practice, you know, what we are taught.
35:18Thanks to godliness, yeah.
35:21In terms of size, okay, sometimes we see there are issues in terms of parking.
35:28Because the build up or the area for parking is minimal, not enough.
35:33So, basically for the mosque, we dedicate 10 acres.
35:3710 acres for the mosque as well as the parking area.
35:43In terms of, perhaps, ensuring that, you know, a mosque is not just a place for players, but a place
35:51for us to convene and basically have a gathering and be together.
35:58A place where we come together.
36:01It's a community center.
36:02Community center, yeah.
36:03So, apart from the mosque, next to it, there would be a small lake where we will have a mini
36:11jogging track as well.
36:12You know, you track.
36:14And in this location as well, well, a couple of, I would say, about 100 meters away, you have a
36:22geopark there as well.
36:23So, hopefully, we are able to connect all these areas, the mosque, the lake with the, also, I wouldn't say
36:33it's a lake.
36:34It's basically a small, in a way like a pond, a retention pond actually.
36:38So, we'll have a jogging track going around it and also a geopark.
36:41And in the future, there is a plan to have a community hall as well by the Majlis.
36:47So, basically, it's a place of gathering, place of where you have activities.
36:52So, we want, basically, this kind of concept to be, you know, available for the public, for the people.
37:01When is the anticipated completion?
37:05It will be completed quarter one next year.
37:08Oh, soon?
37:09Quarter one next year, yeah, soon.
37:10It's basically under construction at the moment.
37:12A lot of effort and thinking has been put into this mosque.
37:17And hopefully, it will be something that, you know, we can, we can say that, look, okay.
37:22The state, you know, via PNSB has come up with something that is different.
37:30And hopefully, trailblazing as well.
37:32Well, I wish you all the best in your endeavors.
37:35That was the conversation that we've just had with Yang Mulia Raja Ahmad Syahrir Iskandar.
37:41The CEO of Pemodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad.
37:44If you want to learn more about conversations like this, just stay down to Astro Awani and find out more
37:49there.
37:49Until then, thanks very much for watching and catch you in the next one.
38:11you
Comments