PAS President Abdul Hadi Awang today said that it is not time for dropping the 30 percent bumiputera equity in businesses, describing the proposed measures by Prime Minister Najib Razak as detrimental to the race.

Najib yesterday announced a slew of libralisation measures that included scrapping a rule requiring a 30 percent reserve of all initial public offers in shares for bumiputeras and dumped the mandatory regulatory approvals needed for property purchases by foreigners.

The measures, to liberalise the economy as it heads into recession, are seen as undoing decades of affirmative action for bumiputeras.

hadi awang pc 060609 02 "The bumiputeras are still lagging behind in terms of experience and their position (relative to other races)" he said when journalists asked Hadi (left) to comment on the policy decision.

He added that the goal of the previous policy has yet to be achieved. The policy was set in place 16 years ago in order to attain 30 percent bumiputera ownership in businesses.

But bumiputera ownership stands at 19.4 percent today.

Worsening rural-urban divide

"We want to be fair to all races but at the same time the bumiputera position should be strengthened."

He said that the interracial division of wealth still persists in rural and urban areas.

He said bumiputeras in rural areas are still left behind as they do not have amenities the other races have in urban area.

"They lag behind in education amenities (for example). They cannot compete with the urbanites of other races who have such privileges," he said.

The government removed the requirement for regulatory approval by the Foreign Investment Committee (FIC) on property transactions, except those that dilute interests of bumiputeras - a term for Malays and indigenous people.

Foreign investors will also no longer have to obtain approval for acquisitions and mergers.

The liberalisation move comes as the government warned the economy could contract by as much as 5.0 percent this year.