KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 1 — A congress on the future of Bumiputeras and the nation will be held soon in line with the government’s agenda to empower the Bumiputera economy, said Minister of Economic Affairs Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali. 

“We will gather economic experts from various sectors to discuss steps that should be taken to strengthen Bumiputera economy.

“At the same time, the Pakatan Harapan government will adopt a distributive justice approach with other races,” he said in his winding up debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Dewan Rakyat today.

Meanwhile, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof (PBB-Petra Jaya) also suggested for representatives from less developed states such as Sabah, Sarawak and several others in the peninsula, including Kelantan, and government-linked companies (GLCs) to be involved in the congress to obtain a holistic viewpoint which would benefit everyone.

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“I would like to see the minister’s plans on the Bumiputera economic congress, the extent of the people’s involvement and whether the representatives from the less developed states are appointed by the GLCs so that their voices can be heard during discussions on policy planning to ensure a more holistic socioeconomic development. 

Citing figures, Mohamed Azmin said in 2016, the average Bumiputera household income stood at RM6,627 compared with RM8,213 for non-Bumiputeras.

Additionally, the percentage of residential ownership by Bumiputeras in the primary market in 2016 stood at 38.8 per cent (RM5.63 billion) compared with those of non-Bumiputeras which stood at 56.7 per cent (RM8.23 billion).

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“For commercial property ownership, the percentage of Bumiputera transactions is only 9.8 per cent (RM21 million) compared with 46 per cent (RM1.01 billion) by non-Bumiputeras,” he added. — Bernama