Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak took a swipe at Pakatan Harapan when he announced 11 new and additional incentives totalling RM2.9 billion for bumiputera small and medium enterprises (SME).

"I have scrutinised the manifesto from the other side, which has 60 promises. However, only one of the promises talked about 'the bumiputera economy'," he said when attending the “Bumiputera Entrepreneur Gathering and Chat with the Premier” event at Bukit Jalil today.

"They did not place the bumiputera economy as their first promise, not the tenth nor 20th, but 30th," he said.

"When I looked into the promise, it does not contain substantial content that could uphold the development of the bumiputera economy in a holistic manner," he said.

"They merely pledged to table the bumiputeras’ and Malays’ share of equity in Parliament; what can the bumiputera gain from this? This is how lightly they take on the bumiputera agenda," he said.

Earlier, Najib said the government will allocate RM50 million for listed SMEs in the Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) market, where a RM500,000 matching grant will be allocated for each SME.

The government will also provide an RM500,000 soft loan each for 80 high-performing bumiputera SMEs, he said.

The Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) will be the sole coordinator that formulates all policies and programmes involving the bumiputera at all levels, he said.

Bumiputera focus

Others incentives announced by Najib were:

  • Incentives worth RM60 million in 2019 for Tunas Usahawan Belia Bumiputera (Tube), a training programme that benefits to 3,000 youths.
     
  • The allowance scheme that helps bumiputera SMEs to increase their exports will be extended until 2020.
     
  • A total allocation of RM50 million for 10,000 SMEs involved in e-commerce to expand their business in the global market.
     
  • Incentives totalling RM50 million will be chanelled to help new business where matching grants of up to RM250,000 will be given as start-up funds.
     
  • A total of RM500 million will be chanelled to develop the retail and logistics industry with RM200 million coming from the government and RM300 million from Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional (PUNB).
     
  • Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) will continue its Express Contract Financing Scheme (Spike) with a RM50 million allocation to help 3,000 SMEs; Mara will also allocate another RM50 million for SMEs under its Business Improvement Loan Scheme (Spim) programme.
     
  • A total RM50 million in investment incentives will be given to investors as a method to increase their equity stake.
     
  • The second phase of Dana Mudahcara Bumiputera (Facilitation Fund for Bumiputera) will be executed from 2018 with RM2 billion being allocated.

Ahead of the 14th general election, Harapan had on March 8 unveiled its 138-page manifesto which among others aims to tackle the rising cost of living by abolishing GST and tolls.

The opposition also promised to develop the economy so the bumiputera and all Malaysians would benefit equally.

In pledging to increase the ability of SMEs so they could compete on the Asean market, Harapan said it would take the welfare of SMEs to heart instead of taking care of the pockets of big corporations and cronies.

To achieve its target in helping the bumiputera business community, Harapan said it would table a report on bumiputera share of equity in Parliament during the annual budget debate.