In a statement, it said the Bumiputera economic agenda was still a national agenda and must be retained as long as the community lagged behind other races.

“The socio-economic development of the nation must have a foundation based on an equitable sharing of the economy between rural and urban and between ethnicities.

“Only then can we achieve shared prosperity in the spirit of the new Malaysia,” MTEM CEO Ahmad Yazid Othman said.

Yazid acknowledged that certain quarters had taken advantage of the Bumiputera agenda for personal gain.

He said this could be seen in the education sector, where Bumiputeras from high-income households secure scholarships meant for those from poor families.

“This is regrettable as the economic development of Bumiputeras as a whole will be far slower than it should be,” he added.

“Bumiputeras who come from rural and or disadvantaged backgrounds deserve a leg-up to compete against well-off urbanites and Bumiputeras which will then allow them to climb the social ladder and change their lives for the better.”

He also criticised those in the private sector whom he claimed had abused their privileges by selling permits or contracts allocated for Bumiputeras to third parties in pursuit of easy profits.

Calling such parties “Ali Baba groups”, he said they had hijacked and robbed the rights and opportunities that should rightly go to “authentic Bumiputera entrepreneurs”.

“The practitioners of the Ali Baba business model should rightly be considered as not only criminal but traitors as well,” he said.

For effective implementation of Bumiputera policies, Yazid said, such plans must be restructured and made a priority.

He added that the gap between the Bumiputeras and those from other races could be measured by the gap in household income, wealth, control of small- and medium-sized enterprises and equity ownership.