The group, which include investment and banking firms from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the UAE, is eyeing investments in oil and gas, property and Islamic banking sectors, Gulf Petroleum president Abdul Aziz Hamad Al Delaimi said.
"We have come to evaluate and investigate, and see the possibilities of developing business in Malaysia. We anticipate that the issues we are pursuing shall culminate in an agreement before the end of this year," he said.
Abdul Aziz said the group was pursuing an option to build an oil refinery in Malaysia.
"The idea is to have a refinery that would utilise crude oil coming from the Middle East," he added.
The group is also looking at acquiring real estates and equity stakes in Islamic financial institutions, he said.
But analysts said it was too early to say whether such evaluation would translate into actual investments.
"The government is very committed to bring them in and there are some people who are obviously considering coming in. But they have yet to really bring in the money and put the money to work," said JP Morgan Chase analyst Chris Oh.
"There are many reasons they would come to Malaysia - from being a highly credible and progressive Muslim country to the fact that Malaysia is trying to put in as many incentives to bring in these people as possible."
The consortium, which plans to make Malaysia their hub for future business in Southeast Asia, was also looking at investment opportunities in neighbouring Indonesia, Brunei and Thailand, Abdul Aziz said.
