Bumiputera Owns Only One Out of 97 Listed firms! Is That True?

Only one out of 97 listed companies in Bursa Malaysia in the last three years is owned by bumiputera, its Chairman revealed this in the recent Bumiputera Economic Congress.

It’s been six decades and we have implemented various policies to empower the bumiputera and what is the result today? Why haven’t we reached our target all this time? The “main cause of the failure” according to the Bursa Chairman is that the bumiputera group has always focused its policies on the public sector but not the private sector.

In the context of Malaysia’s GDP, the public sector only contributed 17.8 percent to the economy whereas the private sector contributed 76.2 percent. The private sector is 4.3 times larger than the public sector. That’s right, it is always the case unless you are an African state!

A more universal approach to further empower the group? Companies that benefit from contracts of concessions from the government, government-linked investment companies (GLIC) and government-linked companies (GLCs) as well as other private companies are required to empower and enforce the bumiputera agenda. Is that a new way to seek rent?

In addition, introduce the Equitable Opportunity Act on a needs-based basis to ensure that all citizens get fair employment and business opportunities. Employ individuals even if they are capable? Follow the civil service?

A former Law Minister, however, told the Malays to “relax”. Bumiputera or Malays generally do not have much to worry about as they control everything in the country - the Government, Petronas, the biggest banks, judiciary, legislature, army, police and everything else of any importance. PNB (Permodalan Nasional Berhad) owns all the significant conglomerates for the bumiputera. Khazanah Nasional Berhad and the hundreds of government-linked companies are bumiputera. So, what else?

This is a class “war”. The elite want more at the expense of the poor and they look for scapegoat. We should not fall for this racial rhetoric. On one hand the Government wants a vibrant Bursa and on the other follow the social engineering programmes. PNB, Equinas and a host of GLICs own shares substantially in listed companies.

In February 1969, the Government created the Bumiputera Stock Exchange (“BSE”). At the end of September 1983, there were six bumiputera companies on the BSE. It stopped operations in late 1990s. Why? There wasn’t enough companies or transactions. In 2010, the idea was mooted again. The then Chairman of Bursa Malaysia slammed the idea. We need to be clear on what we want. When KLSE is not vibrant and Malaysian companies are listed overseas, we decry our plight. Can we make up our minds?

References:

Bumiputera owns only one out of 97 listed firms in last 3 years – Bursa chief, Isabelle Leong and Haspaizi Zain, Malaysiakini, 1 March 2024

Zaid: Relax, no group in the world is as fortunate as bumiputera, Malaysiakini, 2 March 2024