Malaysia's Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak tabled Budget 2013 in Parliament on 28 September 2012

Source By : http://www.pmo.gov.my/

Summary:
With the theme “Prospering the nation, enhancing the well being of rakyat: A promise fulfilled”,  Malaysia’s Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak has tabled Budget 2013 in Parliament on 28 September 2012.

In his speech, Malaysia’s Prime Minister has unveiled several initiatives related  to Islamic finance:

AGROSUKUK

• To further stimulate the capital and equity market, Securities Commission Malaysia will provide a framework on the issuance of AgroSukuk for companies engaged in the agriculture sector, following the successful listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings. Through instruments such as the AgroSukuk, capital can be raised to finance agricultural companies and agro-based industries. To encourage the issuance of AgroSukuk, the Government proposed that expenses for the issuances of AgroSukuk be given a double deduction for a period of four years effective from year of assessment 2012 to 2015.

RETAIL INVESTOR TO PARTICIPATE IN CAPITAL MARKET

• SC has formulated a framework for retail bond and sukuk issuances to enable investors to acquire stakes in the bond and sukuk markets.
• For a start, DanaInfra Nasional Berhad will issue retail bonds worth RM 300 million by end-2012 to finance MRT development projects.

ISSUANCE OF RETAIL BONDS AND RETAIL SUKUK

• To encourage companies to issue retail bonds and retail sukuk, the Government proposed that additional expenses incurred in the issuance of retail bonds and retail sukuk be given a double deduction for a period of four years effective from year of assessment to 2012 to 2015. 
• Individual investors are also given stamp duty exemption on instruments relating to transaction of retail bonds and retail sukuk.

CAPITAL MARKET PROMOTION CENTRE

• To ensure an effective and holistic promotion of the Malaysian capital market internationally, the SC will establish a Capital Market Promotion centre.
• The centre will adopt an integrated approach across various segments in the capital market and provide consistent initiatives to position Malaysia as a centre of investment and fund raising. 

GRADUATE REPRESENTATIVE PROGRAMME

• The SC will introduce the Graduate Representative Programme to increase the supply of professionals to support growth of the capital market.
• The programme will be implemented in collaboration with the private sector to train 1,000 graduates to meet the needs of the securities and derivatives industry.

DANAJAMIN NASIONAL BERHAD (DANAJAMIN)

• The Government established Danajamin Nasional Berhad (Danajamin) to provide guarantee facilities to viable companies to obtain funds from the bond market as a reasonable cost. 
• Danajamin has approved guarantees totaling RM 9.3 billlion to 30 companies, resulting in the issuances of bonds and sukuk worth RM4.2 billion.
• This has enable companies to generate economic activities in various sectors, including real estate, infrastructure, plantation, oil and gas, construction, manufacturing and aviation.

CORPORATE WAKAF MASTER PLAN

• The Government recognizes the State Islamic Religious Council as the sole trustee for all wakaf and wakaf funds in respective states. Wakaf institutions in Malaysia not only focus on land development but also corporate wakaf in the form of cash, shares and other financial instruments.
• In line with this, the Malaysian Wakaf Foundation under the Department of  Awqaf, Zakat and Hajj (Jawhar) will be responsible to formulate the Corporate Wakaf master plan, taking into consideration the State Islamic Religious Council legislative structure.
• The master plan will be the platform for the development of Corporate Wakaf in Malaysia.