While he acknowledged that the empty seats may have given the impression of a tepid response to the three-day event here, Asyraf however said that many of those who turned up were representatives of various chambers of commerce.

“What is important is the quality of the participants. Those who turned up were from chambers of commerce and they did so voluntarily.

“It’s an ‘organic’ attendance. The response has been positive after we sent out invites to these chambers, associations and party leaders,” he told reporters.

The congress, jointly organised by Mara and the economy ministry, focusses on 10 main clusters, including educational and human capital reforms, strengthening the halal industry, Sabah and Sarawak’s Bumiputera economy, and new technology.

It was previously reported that organisers expected more than 3,000 participants, including those from the Malay, Kadazandusun, Dayak, Iban and Orang Asli communities.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will attend the closing ceremony tomorrow.

On the first day of the congress yesterday, deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi proposed the establishment of a Bumiputera land corporation to increase the community’s land ownership.

Plantation and commodities minister Johari Ghani called for the government to set up a database of Bumiputera companies to distinguish the genuine and qualified businesses from those that are merely rent-seekers.

Earlier today, Bursa Malaysia Bhd chairman Abdul Wahid Omar revealed only one out of 97 listed companies in the last three years was Bumiputera-owned.