Bumiputera minorities in Sabah and Sarawak, who make up about 10 percent of the nation's population, must be made partners in economic progress and not "partners in poverty", said an academic.

Assoc Prof Dr Madeline Berma, who teaches economics and administration at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia said there is also a need to ensure that they contribute tothe high-growth, modern sectors of the economy.

'They must also contribute, control, manage and own the high-growth sectors of the economy, for only in this way can one say that the bumiputera minorities have become full partners in economic progress and not full partners in poverty," she said.

Berma, an Iban from Sarawak, stressed that the dearth of information and "near absence" of published data makes it difficult to ascertain precisely the level of bumiputera minorities' participation in commerce and industry.

"Where data are available, these are mostly in aggregated forms - bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras," she said in a paper delivered at the inaugural 'Bumiputera Minorities Economic Congress' held from Feb 6-7.

Bumiputera minorities refer to Sarawak's largely non-Muslim indigenous groups such as the Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Lun Bawang, Berawan, Penan and Penan.

Berma said various findings by researchers and academicians over the years indicate that Sarawak/Sabah Bumiputera minorities' equity ownership of the corporate sector is minuscule, even though they make up a sizeable 10 percent of the national population. In the two east Malaysian states, they form the majority of the population.

This was one of the 'hot' issues raised at the congress jointly organised by the Kadazandusun Commerce and Industry Sabah (KCCI) and the Dayak Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sarawak (DCCI). The congress was officiated by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

'Change mindset'

In his keynote address, the premier promised to take what one DCCI official described as 'appropriate action' to address the intra-ethnic economic disparity within the bumiputera community, with various proposed measures, including the possibility of a special revolving fund for the natives of the two states to develop their native customary rights or indigenous land for commercial agriculture.

In a reaction to the resolution calling for the creation of a RM200 million revolving fund, state Land Development Minister Dr James Masing was quoted in Sarawak newspapers today as saying that the move was a good one but expressed concern that without "a change of mindset it would continue to impede the progress of the community".

He did not explain what he meant by 'a change of mindset' but observers note that by his criticism of some of the comments in Berma's paper, he was referring to Dayak individuals whom he considers as operating independently in addressing poverty and related issues affecting the community.

In her paper, Berma referred to the various barriers and challenges that seemingly stand in the way of bumiputera minorities securing a bigger share of the economic cake.

She identified one such barrier as 'the overarching mindset of the bumiputera minorities who seem to believe that the entrepreneurship is a creative and innovative way of thinking that comes inherently to the Chinese and Malay, but not to the Iban, Bidayuh, Melanau and Orang Ulu.'

Berma also referred to the government's policy statement made by former premier Dr Mahathir Mohammad on the 8th Malaysia Development Plan and the Third Outline Perspective Plan (OPP3) to introduce 'specific measures' to assist the bumiputera in Sarawak and Sabah improve their ownership and control of the corporate sector.

She quoted Mahathir as saying that "special attention will be given to increase equity ownership among the bumiputera in Sabah and Sarawak such as the Kadazandusun, Iban, Bajau, Murut, Bidayuh, Melanau and other bumiputera minorities".

Berma said the shift in government policies reflected the "deep concern over intra-ethnic disparity, particularly within the Bumiputera community".

She also believed that the policies were put in place to enable the government to mobilise the potential human resource of the non-Malays, especially bumiputera minorities, who were under-mobilised during the New Economic Policy (NEP) period, to achieve economic growth.

Remarkable progress

She said the Bumiputera as a whole - the Malays and other minorities and indigenous groups in Sarawak and Sabah had made "remarkable progress" since the implementation of NEP.

However, she added that various studies revealed that the achievement was confined to the Malays.

In her own analyses of bumiputera minorities' involvement in selected but important economic sectors, for example in the agricultural sector, it was generally limited to only small-scale production.

Citing another example - the forestry sector - she said the Iban appeared to have the highest percentage of forestry workers, adding that the majority of bumiputeras handled high-risk jobs while non-bumiputeras dominated the "highly lucrative and less risky" manufacturing of furniture and furniture fixtures.

But in terms of equity ownership of the corporate sector, while it is officially acknowledged that the Malays have achieved close to 20 percent, the lack of specific data prevents definitive conclusions as to the achievement of bumiputera minorities.

"Statistically, the bumiputera minorities are combined, thus giving the false impression that all the different ethnic groups (Malays, Orang Asli, bumiputera minorities) enjoy similar achievement," said Berma.

"Given the high percentage of Malay ownership of share capital in the corporate sector, it is safe to conclude that the data for bumiputera share is more of an achievement of the Malays compared to the other bumiputera groups."

Until Nov 30 last year, a956 companies were listed on Bursa Malaysia. Of these, 37 companies are Sarawak-based or with core businesses in Sarawak.

Giving a summary of the Sarawak-based companies according to core business, paid-up capital and market capitalisation and bumiputera minorities participation in them, Berma said the data showed that bumiputera minorities' share of total corporate wealth in Malaysia is limited.

She also produced figures to show that bumiputera minorities' participation in the corporate sector is mostly limited to membership to the board of directors.

Berma said while bumiputera minorities' direct ownership of corporate equity share is relatively small compared to that of other Malaysians, their ownership of corporate wealth through trust agencies such as Permodalan Nasional Malaysia , Mara and Amanah Saham Sarawak is relatively higher.

From a policy perspective, developing a strategy for addressing the support needs of bumiputera minorities' participation in commerce and industry could be justified both for economic and development and social equity reasons.

From an economic standpoint, it could be argued that the success of the national development policies depends on the ability of the government to encourage and support enterprise in all sectors of society.

"In terms of social equity, the creation of viable business opportunities in Malaysia will be essential for various reasons: to the future prosperity of Malaysians in general and bumiputera minorities in particular, and in improving the employment prospects for the large number of young bumiputera minorities job-seekers who will soon be entering the job market," she noted.

TONY THIEN is malaysiakini's Sarawak-based stringer.