KUALA LUMPUR: The renewable energy space offers lots of opportunities and local companies have the potentials to become regional leaders, said Shahazwan Harris, Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) executive director for investments.
“What they need to do is to understand the market well, be able to transfer the knowledge, look at the technology and understand the risks,” he told reporters at the Invest Malaysia 2012 here yesterday.
Shahazwan said the renewable energy sector was growing and the prices were coming down, therefore, there were opportunities for investors and players to make financial gains.
“For a player like Khazanah, it is very strategic for the government and the country because it fits with our new economic investment strategy, which supports the New Economic Model that the government is trying to push,” he said.
Meanwhile, First Solar Malaysia Sdn Bhd senior director for public affairs, Ahmad Hadri Haris, said the renewable energy sector had changed tremendously over a short period of time, so the challenge for the government was to keep up with that pace.
“This requires a lot of industry interactions,” he said.
He said First Solar had the knowledge and was ready to compete, however, it was up to the government to give it the opportunity to participate. Malaysia had the opportunity to capitalise on the solar sector and moving forward, perhaps penetrate the Asean and the Middle East markets, he said.
“If we do not do it, we will miss out and other players, such as the Chinese and European players, will take advantage of the opportunities available in the region,” he said. — Bernama