The think tank’s chief executive, Wan Saiful Wan Jan, said this would ensure an urgency in the implementation of the programme, which is intended to create Bumiputera entrepreneurs who are progressive and able to compete on a bigger, maybe even global, scale.

“Without an end date, we will never know how far we have progressed and how much more needs to be done.

“Eventually we need to come to a stage when all Bumiputeras can stand tall and be proud to say we have graduated from the assistance programme,” he said in a statement today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Najib Razak launched the second edition of the programme, saying the initiative would be more inclusive in nature as the previous Bumiputera agenda had only focused on the economy.

BETR 2.0 would cover aspects such as education, health, and social and cultural issues, he said, adding that it was aimed at “championing the plight of the people and elevating the status of the Bumiputeras to a higher level”.

Commenting on the programme, Wan Saiful said it should be an opportunity to move towards “a proud and confident future” in which Malaysia would no longer need race-based economic policies.

Once the Bumiputeras were able to “graduate” from the programme, he said, assistance could be given based on need, regardless of ethnicity.

He welcomed Najib’s call for the Bumiputera community to embrace competition, saying competition and being competitive was not something to be afraid of.

It was not enough for them to be “jaguh kampung”, he added.

“We must not continue protectionist policies which insulate or shield Bumiputera-owned companies from competition because that will bring more harm than good.”