by BERNAMA

MALAYSIAN Technology Development Corp (MTDC) has inked an agreement to participate in the Real Tech Fund Investment Partnership Global 1, a venture capital (VC) fund set up mainly for investing in Asean region unlisted companies with advanced deep-tech technologies.

The Khazanah Nasional subsidiary said it signed the agreement with Real Tech Holdings Co Ltd of Japan to formalise its participation in the fund, which aims to provide support to the investee companies in various aspects especially for expansion into the Japanese market.

Ten large Japanese corporations are participating in the fund which has a size of about US$31 million (RM128.25 million) and MTDC is the only non-Japanese participant.

In a statement yesterday, MTDC CEO Datuk Norhalim Yunus (picture) said the agency’s participation in the fund will provide an opportunity for it to jointly invest with Japanese corporations and industrial groups in potential technology-based companies.

“It is also an opportunity for MTDC to recommend potential companies in MTDC’s ecosystem to the fund. It is expected to create better access for the selected Malaysian companies with regards to overseas ventures and partnerships, particularly into the Japanese market,” he said.

At the same time, MTDC’s participation would indirectly attract Japanese corporations’ interest in Malaysian tech-based small and medium enterprises for collaboration in the form of investment and technology transfer.