THE government’s poverty eradication programme is formulated not only along racial lines but other factors to fair and equal opportunities for all.

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said this was to ensure the country’s wealth was equally distributed.

“The Perikatan Nasional government’s policy is to implement a comprehensive poverty eradication programme and this takes into account the disparities between Bumiputra and non-Bumiputera, regional and non-regional areas including in Sabah and Sarawak after various initiatives in the past.”

He said this today in the Dewan Negara in reply to Senator Razali Idris who wanted to know about the government steps to to tackle poverty in Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak. 

He said the government’s emphasis on the socio-economic status of the Bumiputera did not mean that it was sidelining the other communities.

The Shared Prosperity Vision policy, he said, took into consideration the interests of all the races in Malaysia.

“Nevertheless, the Bumiputeras make up the majority at almost 70% of the country’s total population, and that is why the government focuses on them to develop the economy as a whole,” he said.

Muhyiddin said that the government was also concerned about the non-Bumiputeras and would not neglect them, especially the poor.

“We cannot neglect them or let them live in poverty just because they are non-Bumiputera, we cannot just help the Malays to be richer. No, we cannot. We must have a fair policy for all races in the country,” he said.

Muhyiddin said that a problem faced by the government in the efforts to eradicate poverty was the lack of a database with complete information on Bumiputera achievements in various economic sectors.

For that, he said the government had established Teraju under the Prime Minister’s Department to serve as the secretariat to coordinate and steer the agenda to increase the Bumiputera share of the economy.

To do that, Muhyiddin said the focus would also be given to their participation in certain sectors, such as industrial, banking, manufacturing and electronic, where the government could identify their weaknesses and introduce certain initiatives to ensure that they will not lag behind compared to other races.

In reply to Razali’s question on the role of the Bumiputera Prosperity Council, the prime minister said the Bumiputera poverty rate stood at 7.2% in 2019, while the unemployment rate for the second quarter of this year was 5.2% compared to the national average of 5.1%.

He said Bumiputera equity in the corporate sector was only 16.2% in 2015 compared to non-Bumiputera at 30.7% and foreign ownership at 45.3%.

He said the council was the highest platform to renew and strengthen the Bumiputera socio-economic development plan.

“To ensure that the council will achieve its objectives, it will be supported by two committees, namely the steering committee to be chaired by the (Special Functions) Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, and the working committee to be chaired by the Teraju chief executive officer.

“The two committees periodically hold meetings that involve all the relevant implementing agencies.”

The council convened for the first time on August 11.

The work to empower the Bumiputera will be monitored and evaluated via key performance indicators, he said. – Bernama, September 7, 2020.