UUM ONLINE: The year 2020 bears witness to the determination put forth by all parties, Malaysia including, in curtailing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic that has brought about tremendous impact on not just the health of the community, but also the economy and the stock market.

In efforts to further discuss the issue, the School of Economics, Finance and Banking (SEFB) and Bursa Malaysia Berhad jointly organized a webinar entitled, 'Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts and Challenges Investing in the Malaysian Stock Market' that was presented by the Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia Berhad, Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift.

The webinar which was broadcast live via SEFB's Facebook received encouraging response from the staff of UUM and Bursa Malaysia, students and the outside community.

The webinar also attracted the participation of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Dato' Dr Ahmad Bashawir Abdul Ghani who said that the COVID-19 pandemic not only posed a threat to Malaysia, but the whole world as well.

"However, the policies adopted by the government and Bank Negara Malaysia including the Movement Control Order (MCO) directive, moratorium loan and interest rate reduction have been able to help restore investor confidence and ensure that the Malaysian economy remains strong," he said.

Meanwhile, according to Datuk Muhamad Umar, experts projected the world economy to be weak as a result of the pandemic which in turn would give negative impact, especially on the company's corporate income.

However, from a slightly different perspective, he said, in every crisis there would also be opportunities for businesses to successfully change their business model drastically in order to remain competitive, and this will in fact afford them with advantages, such as the case in sectors namely healthcare and technology.

In addition, according to him, the proactive steps taken by Malaysia to increase market confidence had also succeeded in the gradual recovery of the stock market from the initial effects of COVID-19.

"This good progress has been driven by encouraging trade patterns from investors and more millennials are entering the Malaysian market by investing in various asset classes.

"For the Bursa itself, the steps taken during this pandemic include four main thrusts, namely managing investor confidence, stakeholder involvement, strengthening market control and educating investors," he said.

Datuk Muhamad Umar said, with a strong foundation and well-planned proactive measures, he expressed his confidence that the Malaysian stock market would recover from the effects of this pandemic in the near future.