Sin Chew Daily, October 13, 2014

Deputy Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Dato’ Tajuddin said, bumiputera equity in private corporations should exceed the government set target of 30% since bumiputera population will reach 70% of the national population by 2020.

He expressed his regret on the Prime Minister and Finance Minister’s statement saying that bumiputera equity has not reached 30% during the announcement of Budget 2015.

He also criticized bumiputera for only owning about 10% effective control over corporations, which is affected by Khazanah Nasional Berhad senior officials’ execution ability. He spoke to the media at the corridors of the Parliament today.

“For instance, a few years ago, Khazanah once promised to sell some shares of its listed company to bumiputera. But what is the end result? Why hasn’t Khazanah made its move?”

He added that disparity will occur if the bumiputera population reaches 70% but only entitled to obtain 30% equity, not to mention the current bumiputera equity still has not reached the target of 30%.

“Why was the 30% not achieved?” he asked.

This is because the bumiputera do not have the funding to buy the shares when opportunity arises. Bumiputera needs to have the fund. If they are applying for bank loan, banks could not approve it because the loan applicant uses stocks as deposit which possesses certain degree of risks.”

“Due to lack of funding, the government has established EKUINAS and TERAJU to help bumiputera entrepreneurs to initiate share acquiring plan. Besides, we could also achieve the bumiputera equity target through Khazanah’s help since Khazanah is holding many shares of listed companies.”

Original Source: 副農長：土著人口2020年達70%‧“土著股權應超過30%”