KUALA LUMPUR – Politicians in Malaysia are fixated on the 30% Bumiputera equity aim set out in the New Economic Policy (NEP), but have neglected to build capacity and competitiveness within the community, said economist Lee Hwok Aun.
“Less attention was given to education development and enterprise achievement, which fundamentally involve learning and capacity-building.
“Statistics have shown that until 2015, Bumiputera small and medium enterprises were concentrated in the micro and small scale. In public procurement, three quarters of Bumiputera contractors were in the G1 class, which is the smallest of seven classes.
“Almost all of them have remained small, with only very few going on to the bigger classes over the years.”
To address the lack of qualitative achievement, he said, affirmative-action measures under NEP must do better – they have to be clear, systematic and constructive.
The ISEAS-Yusuf Ishak Institute fellow was one of six panellists in the Beyond Vision 2020: Growth with Equity in the New Decade webinar co-organised by Sekhar Institute, The Vibes and Petra Group on Thursday.
Broken system
Petra Group chairman and group chief executive Datuk Dr Vinod Sekhar said the policy is “broken” and that 80% of low-income earners are Malay.
“We need to build Malays’ capacity to ensure that they can be competitive. The problem was that they (the government) were concentrating on placing all the Bumiputeras (in positions) to lead companies and departments, which did not build capacity.”
Malaysia is facing a brain drain, losing its talent to countries like Singapore and Australia, as non-Bumiputeras are leaving due to social inequality stemming from affirmative-action measures, he said.
“Race-based policies and economics have failed because they have not helped the hardcore poor. They have also caused other issues.
“Why are the best here leaving? These policies have chased talent out of Malaysia.
“These are the facts we are dealing with. The system is broken. We need to fix it all.”
NEP was introduced in the 2nd Malaysia Plan. The policy aimed to eradicate poverty in the country, and accelerate social restructuring to reduce, and eventually eliminate, the identification of race with economic function.
It took the approach of promoting Bumiputera participation and achievement in higher education, professional and management positions, enterprise and ownership.
This was done with the ultimate goal of developing capability and competitiveness within the community, so that they will eventually not need preferential treatment.
The policy introduced the target of 30% Bumiputera equity later on. – The Vibes, November 14, 2020
Follow The Vibes to read our series of in-depth articles based on discourses held during the webinar titled ‘Beyond Vision 2020: Growth with Equity in the New Decade’, from Thursday till Monday
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