PUTRAJAYA, March 3 — The 2024 Bumiputera Economic Congress is the seventh edition of a convention first inaugurated in 1965 as a platform to formulate policies that could help...
PUTRAJAYA, March 3 — The 2024 Bumiputera Economic Congress is the seventh edition of a convention first inaugurated in 1965 as a platform to formulate policies that could help raise the Bumiputera socio-economic status.
Meanwhile economists and public policy buffs remain divided about whether or not pro-Bumiputera positive discrimination has worked.Yet, most of them somewhat agree that these state-sponsored congresses, while initially noble, have morphed into an avenue for political grandstanding, mostly by highlighting the lack of Bumiputera corporate success as a reason to continue voting for Umno.
This was reflected in the opening speech itself which was delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, also the Umno president. Yes, both Anwar and Zahid did say the “struggle” to elevate Bumiputera socio-economic status can never be a bargaining chip, but emphasis was also given to equal opportunity and economic fairness.Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar himself stressed to his conservative colleagues in the government that even if the majority of small and micro businesses are owned by Malaysian-Chinese, no Malaysian can be prosperous unless all are prosperous.
He said the fixation with equity ownership has blocked progress in several ways, including the misplaced priority on acquisition instead of productivity.