CLOSE to 30% of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are owned by bumiputera as of January 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said.
Zahid said 357,863 of the total number of registered MSMEs – making up 29.8 percent – belong to bumiputera.
He proposed a bumiputera economic development policy to drive and empower their enterprises holistically.
He added that bumiputera enterprises must be pushed to a higher and global level to ensure their ownership and dominance in the economy can be realised and for the entrepreneurs to benefit on a larger scale.
“Since the first Bumiputera Economic Congress (BEC) was held, many traders have benefited from the government’s efforts in encouraging and stimulating bumiputera to engage in business.
“There is no doubt that many successful and outstanding entrepreneurs have been born since the first congress in 1965,” he told Bernama in conjunction with the congress scheduled from Feb 29 until March 2.
The first BEC, held on June 7, 1965, and opened by then prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, among others, led to the establishment of the Majlis Amanah Rakyat, which has become a special entity to map the direction and progress of Malays and bumiputera – economically, educationally and socially.
He also expressed the need for the development of a dashboard for bumiputera entrepreneurs to identify structured and targeted programmes that can be utilised to enhance the capabilities of their companies.
The dashboard also ensures that a company does not receive the same assistance from various agencies, he said.
BEC 2024 will be held with the main objective of empowering the bumiputera agenda in 10 national economic groups. – Feb 28, 2024
