01
3 September 1993DECISION
Khazanah Nasional is incorporated.
The government creates a company to hold and manage commercial assets on behalf of the nation.
← ChronologyUpdated 5 Oct 2026
CHRONOLOGY · ECONOMY · SOVEREIGN WEALTH
Khazanah Nasional: from custodian of government assets to Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund
A chronology of Khazanah's creation in 1993, its 2004 strategic revamp, the GLC Transformation Programme, Iskandar Malaysia, aviation restructuring, impact investing and its modern role as Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.
Year by year15 events1993-09-03 → 2026-10-05
ANIMATED CHRONOLOGY SUMMARYWatch the sequence before reading the full story.
1993-09-03→2026-10-05
STORY AT A GLANCE
Watch the sequence before reading the full story.
A chronology of Khazanah's creation in 1993, its 2004 strategic revamp, the GLC Transformation Programme, Iskandar Malaysia, aviation restructuring, impact investing and its modern role as Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund.
15 EVENTS17 SOURCE LINKS
EVENT 1 OF 153 September 1993Khazanah Nasional is incorporated.
The government creates a company to hold and manage commercial assets on behalf of the nation.
WHY THIS HISTORY MATTERSKhazanah is one of the clearest places where Malaysian economic policy and corporate ownership meet.
Continue to full chronology ↓Following its investment history helps explain how the state has influenced telecommunications, infrastructure, aviation, development corridors, innovation and strategic industries without operating every company directly as a ministry.
FULL TIMELINE · SCROLL / CLICK / DRAG TO EXPLORE
Each step is dated and sourced. Statements, allegations, decisions and confirmed actions stay labelled separately so the timeline does not turn one side's claim into an established fact.
HOW WE GOT HERE
Follow the sequence, not just the headline.
02
1994ACTION
Khazanah begins operations as a custodian of government commercial assets.
Its early role focuses on strategic holdings and high-technology sectors rather than the broader active-investor model used today.
03
1990sACTION
Khazanah becomes involved in major national-development platforms including Putrajaya.
The portfolio increasingly links government ownership with strategic infrastructure, telecommunications, airports and large development projects.
04
Early 2000sMONEY
Khazanah acquires UEM through Danasaham.
The transaction gives Khazanah a major infrastructure platform spanning highways, engineering, property and related assets.
05
2004DECISION
Khazanah begins a strategic revamp toward a more active shareholder model.
Its mandate expands from holding assets toward driving performance, restructuring core holdings and investing in new sectors and geographies.
06
2004–2015DECISION
Khazanah helps drive the GLC Transformation Programme.
The programme uses governance, performance-management and strategic reform tools to raise the competitiveness of major government-linked companies.
07
Mid-2000sMONEY
Khazanah starts a major wave of overseas investments.
Indonesia, China, India and Saudi Arabia become early target markets as the sovereign portfolio diversifies geographically.
08
2006ACTION
Iskandar Malaysia is launched.
Khazanah plays a catalytic role in the southern Johor development corridor, linking investment capital with regional infrastructure and urban development.
09
2008DECISION
The TM-TMI demerger creates the platform that becomes Axiata.
The transaction separates Telekom Malaysia's domestic fixed-line operations from a regional mobile-telecommunications group.
10
2014WARNING
Khazanah launches the Malaysia Airlines Recovery Plan.
After years of losses and the extraordinary shocks surrounding MH370 and MH17, Khazanah restructures the national airline through a new corporate vehicle and recovery programme.
11
2015MONEY
Khazanah issues a RM100 million SRI sukuk.
The transaction is described by Khazanah as the world's first ringgit-denominated Sustainable and Responsible Investment sukuk.
12
2015STATUS
The ten-year GLC Transformation Programme reaches completion.
The programme's end marks a major institutional milestone in Khazanah's active-shareholder era.
13
2020sDECISION
Khazanah expands impact-oriented investing through Dana Impak.
The strategy aims to combine financial discipline with measurable contributions to Malaysian capabilities, innovation, inclusion and resilience.
14
2023STATUS
Khazanah marks three decades.
Its own 30-year review frames the institution as Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund with a diversified domestic and international portfolio.
15
2026STATUS
Khazanah positions itself as a purpose-driven long-term investor for Malaysia.
The current mandate combines sustainable financial value, strategic industry development, national capability-building and selected catalytic investments.
WHAT IS KHAZANAH ACTUALLY FOR?
It sits between a sovereign wealth fund, strategic shareholder and nation-building investor.
It began as an asset custodian.
The early model focused on holding and managing government commercial assets before the 2004 shift toward more active ownership.
It has repeatedly been used to restructure strategic companies.
Telecommunications, infrastructure and Malaysia Airlines illustrate how Khazanah's role can extend well beyond passive investment.
Its modern mandate adds explicit societal outcomes.
Current strategy emphasises long-term financial value alongside resilient industries, national capabilities and broader outcomes for Malaysians.
WHY THIS HISTORY MATTERS
Khazanah is one of the clearest places where Malaysian economic policy and corporate ownership meet.
Following its investment history helps explain how the state has influenced telecommunications, infrastructure, aviation, development corridors, innovation and strategic industries without operating every company directly as a ministry.
Questions the chronology cannot answer yet.
01How should Khazanah balance commercial returns against strategic or social objectives when those goals conflict?
02Which industries genuinely require sovereign catalytic capital, and which should be left entirely to private markets?
03How should Malaysians measure Khazanah's performance: portfolio returns, dividends, strategic outcomes or all three?
The events that would move this story forward.
01Khazanah's annual portfolio and value-creation results.
02New Dana Impak and strategic-industry investments.
03Major restructuring or exits involving government-linked holdings.
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