KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) — The government will continue to introduce and implement various programmes to create a group or class of tenacious and resilient Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the march towards a developed-country status by 2020, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
The prime minister said although efforts carried out to achieve the goal made some headway, it was not a total success in terms of number and stature in the competitive market.
“Over the years, we managed to create Bumiputera middle class through government policies that had triggered social mobility made up of Bumiputera professional groups, who gained admissions in the institutions of higher learning after having obtained academic qualifications.
“Yet another effort is to create another group in the Bumiputera community — the
entrepreneurial group,” he said when launching the BAHTERA Bumipreneurs of
Tomorrow, here today.
He said as Malaysia entered the last leg before becoming a developed nation, the government created bodies such as the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Council and the Bumiputera Agenda Steering Unit (Teraju) that underlined efforts to empower the community’s economy.
He said the government would also strengthen the role of agencies such as Majlis Amanah Rakyat and Tekun Nasional as well as introduce new policies to assist Bumiputera entrepreneurs.
“These are among our efforts of late, including offering government-linked companies involved in non-core businesses for sale to Bumiputera entrepreneurs and entering into business partnership with them in certain businesses.
“We are doing this as eventually, we want to Bumiputera entrepreneurs to be able to compete (in the market),” he said.
On BAHTERA, he said it was yet another initiative and platform to collect data on Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the quest to empower them.
He said with the data, the government could provide information that would be more focused to the community to help develop their entrepreneurial activities.
“BAHTERA will also enable Bumiputera entrepreneurs to establish business ties, support the supply chain among them and have access to each other products,” he said.
The prime minister said however, despite the implementation of various efforts and policies, it was of utmost importance that Bumiputera entrepreneurs forged cooperation and support each other in order to strengthen the community.
“If we can see this additional dimension, then I believe it will be another impetus to enhance the Bumiputera entrepreneurial community empowerment,” he said.
BAHTERA is an awareness programme aimed at preparing Bumiputera entrepreneurs in facing business challenges with the use of technology, new business models and networks to ensure their sustainability.
The two-day programme held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here provides an agenda focusing on building and growing business.
The programme, initiated by the Ministry of Finance and the National Strategy Unit, featured workshops and knowledge exchange programmers conducted by government agencies and Bumiputera companies.
— BERNAMA
