Ninety percent of Malay contractors, especially those who run small and medium enterprises (SME), depend on the government in the form of grants.

Malay Contractors Association (PKMM) president Mokhtar Samad, in revealing this, said that among the obvious weaknesses of Malay contractors were that they do not have the expertise and technology to compete with larger companies, reports Utusan Malaysia Online today.

Lack of funds as well as experience are also some of the factors why Malay contractors did not dare to try their hand at mega projects offered by private companies.

Although 58 years had passed since the country’s independence, it is clear that Malay contractors still did not dare to take risks.

“It’s a bitter reality that 98 percent of Malay contractors depend on government grants. Even though various policies have been developed to help the Malays, the challenges are still too great (for them to face),” said Mokhtar ( photo ).

He believes that Malay contractors should dare to compete with other key players in the industry by collaborating and exchanging technology and expertise to develop the businesses.

Although the industry is dominated by the Chinese, Mokhtar also believes that it was not impossible for Malay contractors to rise up in developing the country’s economy together.

“We need to compete and this doesn’t mean that we fight with each other. Instead, we can collaborate with larger companies for the exchange of technology and expertise,” he pointed out.

He also stressed that Malay contractors should take their own initiative to look for projects from private companies instead of solely depending on government grants.

“We need to make efforts to change the negative perception that Malay contractors solely depend on the government,” he said.