'Congress to review bumi economic transformation, not replace NEP'

The Bumiputera Economic Congress 2024 (BEC) is aimed at reviewing the bumiputera economic transformation by correcting its shortcomings in terms of implementation and not replacing the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said this was because the congress’ main objective was to restructure the participation of bumiputera in the economic sector more openly and transparently.

“The Bumiputera Economic Transformation (BET) that is being highlighted as a policy to move things forward does not replace the NEP.

“Instead, this congress looks at the successes achieved, including the setting up of government agencies as a result of the first and second BEC and to review all the successes, failures and weaknesses, and what needs to be improved,” he said on the first day of the three-day congress in Putrajaya today.

Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi officiated the congress at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

The congress, organised by the Economy Ministry and the Rural and Regional Development Ministry through Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), aims to look for new approaches and directions and to improve the bumiputera empowerment agenda more fairly and inclusively.

Mohamad, who is Umno vice-president, said policies to empower the bumiputera economy need to be transformed according to current developments and keep in step with the global and digital economies.

He said the BEC 2024 was the government’s efforts to rejuvenate the bumiputera economy and enlarge the national economic pie so that restructuring can be carried out transparently and openly.

A new beginning

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Azalina Othman Said said BEC 2024 represented a new dawn for Malaysians, especially the bumiputera, to face the challenges of a global economy in turmoil.

Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Rubiah Wang shared that the congress emphasised BET as their achievements have yet to meet a satisfactory target even though economic empowerment has long been the main agenda.

She stressed that bumiputera participation in various economic sectors, especially in Sabah and Sarawak, needed to be intensified, particularly in new areas like the development of hydrogen and algae as new energy sources in Sarawak.

Also, Mara chairman Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said Mara, set up through the first BEC in 1965, needed to be strengthened to ensure that bumiputera participation, ownership and control in economic sectors would be enhanced.

He said Mara had a huge ecosystem involving education, entrepreneurship and economic development as well as an annual budget of RM3.9 billion to ensure that the resolutions from BEC 2024 could be monitored, coordinated and assessed to help realise the success of the bumiputera empowerment agenda.

An observer from the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs, Tricia Yeoh, said BEC 2024 was inclusive as the development of the national economy did not solely involve the bumiputera but also other minorities, ensuring overall growth.

“As a think tank, bumiputera economic development is vital as they are the majority in the country. If they do not progress in various fields, how will the country grow and develop rapidly?” she asked.

Finally, Higher Education Ministry adviser Prof Noor Azlan Ghazali said Zahid’s recommendation of empowering bumiputera through the BET policy would shed some light on the direction and approach that the government will take in the context of socio-economic justice, as well as a sustainable and prosperous country without neglecting other races.

- Bernama

Govt launches new bumiputera policy painted as beneficial to all

COMMENT | Bumiputera congress should focus on the poor

COMMENT | Is Madani's Bumi Economic Congress same old stuff?  

Zahid proposes policy on bumi economic development

COMMENT | How bumi economic congress can help underclass