KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Oxford-educated Khairy Jamaluddin today credited Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) for his academic achievements, saying it was the Bumiputera development agency that gave him the opportunity to pursue his education dreams.

The Youth and Sports Minister said MARA has been instrumental in helping Malaysians in various aspects through its education and entrepreneurship programmes.

“MARA had helped hundreds and thousands of Malaysians including myself. I got a MARA loan to go to the university.

“So I’m a product of MARA and I’m proud of that,” Khairy told reporters outside the Dewan Rakyat today.

The Umno Youth chief added that the recent restructuring of MARA was a step forward to help the Bumiputera agency remain relevant, especially to the youths.

“To me, it is a very good restructuring and it will continue to help young entrepreneurs and students for loans and opportunities,” Khairy said.

The Rembau MP also took a swipe at PKR wing chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad who claimed today that if Pakatan Harapan comes to power, MARA would not only be preserved but also improved to ensure it achieves its intended goals.

“He has to be specific on what he means that needs to be improved. I think that yes, it can be improved and that’s what we are doing.

“We want to make sure that those who are deserving continue to get loans and assistance. The focus still remains on training, education and entrepreneurship,” Khairy said.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak told the Bumiputera community that they owe much of their success to MARA, and urged them to keep Umno in power to ensure the agency’s continued survival.

Najib also boasted that MARA was the brainchild of his father Tun Abdul Razak and Umno, and that without the agency, the Bumiputera community would not have attained its present socio-economic stature.

MARA was founded in 1965 as the successor to the Rural Industrial Development Authority, which initially focused more on infrastructural development for the Bumiputera community.

MARA then developed to become a key socioeconomic engineering agency that helped produce a new generation of Malay middle and business classes, and continues to be a crucial driver to the community’s economic and educational growth until today.

According to the agency, MARA has produced more than four million entrepreneurs and has generated more than RM3 billion in revenue. Its net worth assets alone are worth RM1.7 billion.

Najib said MARA’s success was synonymous to Umno’s and that the two shared a “symbiotic relation” that cannot be separated.

“MARA’s glory is Umno’s glory. Because MARA’s struggle mirrors that of Umno’s,” he said.