KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 10 — The Bumiputera empowerment agenda needs bold as well as radical strategies and initiatives in order to bring about a quantum leap in the Bumiputera economic landscape, says Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy), Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
“Bumiputera participation in high-impact strategic industries with high potential and value added will be stepped up.
“In general, the government’s main focus in Bumiputera empowerment will be translated through the detailed formulation of policies, strategies and initiatives in the preparation of the 12th Malaysia Plan 2021-2025 to be tabled early next year,” he said when winding up his department’s debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat here today.
Meanwhile, touching on the new poverty line (PGK), Mustapa said the government is aware of the policy and financial implications.
Ministries, departments, agencies and state governments have five months to review their policies and assess the financial implications as well as identify the target groups in their poverty eradication and people’s wellbeing programmes, he said.
He said as announced by the Department of Statistics on July 10, 2020, the new national poverty line income is RM2,208 for a household of 3.9 persons.
Whether a household is categorised as poor or not would depend on the total income of all household members for a given period, he noted.
“Based on the 2019 Household Income and Basic Amenities survey, each household has its own poverty line which is based on the ages of household members, gender composition, number of household members, location and prices of items.
“The poverty line varies according to region, state and strata, and based on the findings of the 2019 HIS, the incidence of poverty in urban areas was 3.8 per cent compared with 12.4 per cent in rural areas,” he added. — Bernama
