OVERVIEW
Gateway to Asia
A unique system that utilises the advantages of both onshore and midshore financial centres
MDFC serves to promote Kuala Lumpur and Labuan as premier destinations for financial institutions, funds, investors, family offices, and fintech companies. MDFC is open to global industry players and market participants to collaborate with and mutually benefit from a highly conducive business environment of innovation, expertise and deal flow.
Vision
Malaysia as an international business and financial centre for Asia, facilitating cross-border business and investments in a multipolar world.
Mission
Accelerate cross-border flows of capital and investments to fuel growth and economic development in emerging Asia
Value Proposition
MDFC leverages the strengths of Kuala Lumpur and Labuan to advance Malaysia as a unified and dynamic international financial hub in Asia. Malaysia holds the unique multicultural advantage and ability to connect multiple regions, including ASEAN, North Asia, India, Middle East, the United States, and Europe.
Kuala Lumpur, a global hub for Islamic finance, business services, and digital infrastructure, is well-positioned as an international financial center. Meanwhile, Labuan, as a mid-shore jurisdiction, is emerging as a center for digital assets, fund management, trust services, and captive insurance.
Why Malaysia
Advanced Connectivity & Infrastructure
Kuala Lumpur International Airport is ranked 1st as an international mega hub in Asia Pacific, and 4th in the world, with 11,188 possible low-cost connections across over 100 destinations.
As one of the fastest-growing data centre markets in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is poised to become Asia's third largest data centre market after Japan and India.
Malaysia is ranked No 2 in terms of 5G download speed experience among 13 countries in Asia Pacific with an average 295.5Mbps. In terms of upload speed experience, Malaysia comes in third with 34Mbps (OpenSignal).
Sophisticated Financial Ecosystem
Labuan ranks among the top 3 financial centres in Asia in banking, insurance, and captive insurance in terms of volume of international business.
Malaysia is the most developed Islamic finance market in the world, retaining its first place in the overall ranking, for the 11th consecutive year (ICD-LSEG Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI) Report 2023). Malaysia is also the world’s third-largest Islamic banking market, with Islamic financing making up about 41% of local banking-system loans at end-2022.
Further, Malaysia holds the largest market share (33%) in Southeast Asia in terms of IPO proceeds raised, with US$450 million raised in in H1 2024.
Robust Legal System
The Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) provides a neutral and independent venue for the conduct of domestic and international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) proceedings.
Further, Malaysia practices a dual justice system with a common law system and a Syariah legal system (for Muslims). Malaysia's commitment to the rule of law and judicial independence is key to the country’s prosperity and stability as an international financial centre.
International & Multicultural Talents
Malaysia offers a highly diverse environment with a melting pot of cultures and languages.
Kuala Lumpur is ranked as the 8th best city in the world for expats in 2023. Kuala Lumpur has also been ranked the second most outstanding city in Southeast Asia (Oxford Economics Global Cities Index 2024).
