The future is about promoting adaptability for diverse career paths over creating and accumulating wealth, according to KEB spokesman Ibrahim Sani.

“At least that is the paradigm shift that we hope to achieve,” he told FMT Business.

However, outstanding issues that have made a few Bumiputeras rich at the expense of the vast majority, such as the rent-seeking attitude, must also be tackled, an economist said.

Ibrahim said the objective of the KEB is to equip Bumiputeras with the required skills to navigate the ever-changing business landscape and to help them adapt to new conditions.

“For instance you may be trained in law but you end up starting a podcast. Or you are trained in accountancy but land in agriculture,” he told FMT Business.

“This kind of fluidity should not be seen as an anomaly any longer. Rather, it should be part and parcel of what we do to meet society’s needs,” he said.

He said this can be made possible through initiatives to upgrade vocational training and certification, particularly in high-growth sectors such as technology.

Ibrahim, who is CEO of Yayasan Peneraju, said the concept of getting Bumiputeras to become wealth creators is already “outdated”.

“That is why we are looking at higher growth and value through professional certification,” he added.

Ibrahim said there also is a need to groom social and business leaders among Bumiputeras to help them capture the global economic pie.

“It’s no longer about serving local industries alone. We have to get a portion of the global economic pie and this requires a shift in mindset,” he added.

Discard rent-seeking mindset

Economist Barjoyai Bardai of Universiti Tun Abdul Razak said the “support system” of granting contracts and issuing licences has drawn Bumiputeras but the returns from such ventures are low.

“Nevertheless, these are essentially rent-seeking opportunities,” he told FMT Business.

“(The recipients of such contracts) often appoint non-Bumiputera companies to do the work and end up with just a 4% to 5% cut of the returns,” he said.

“This system ultimately frustrates the people as it only grants opportunities to a select few,” he added.

Instead, Barjoyai said, a social endowment institution could be created to ensure fair distribution of wealth and opportunities.

He said recipients of government contracts, which often involve big sums, should be required to contribute 6%-7% of the profits to this endowment institution.

“The funds can then be distributed to benefit all. This way, we can slowly make the transition away from a solely Bumiputera-focused agenda,” he added.

Creating a level playing field

Touching on fair distribution, Ibrahim pointed out that non-Bumiputeras too can benefit from the success of Bumiputeras.

He pointed out that at 70%, Bumiputeras constitute a significant portion of the country’s population and in steering the community to economic success, a ripple effect can be created to benefit the remaining 30%.

“It’s just that if we can get critical mass for the Bumiputeras through some form of economic agenda, the rest of the country can easily follow,” he added.

For the first time, non-Bumiputeras have been invited to join the congress, which will be held in Putrajaya from Thursday to Saturday.

Afzanizam Rashid, chief economist at Bank Muamalat, pointed out that previous policies to narrow the Bumiputera-Chinese income gap have yielded mixed results.

“For instance, the ratio widened to 0.709 to 1 in 2022 compared with 0.738 to 1 in 2014 but we expect it to narrow to 0.88 to 1 next year,” he told FMT Business.

He said there have been challenges in Bumiputera economic development across various areas, from land management and job participation to education and entrepreneurship.

Nonetheless, he said, the measures to lift the Bumiputeras economically have been well-established.

“Now it’s just about execution and timely implementation as well as measuring the outcome,” he said.

On this score, he added, better coordination among government agencies is important to remove overlaps, wipe out red tape, end confusion and shorten turnaround time.