Right-wing Malay group Perkasa has warned Putrajaya not to sign the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), otherwise the Prime Minister’s new initiative for Bumiputeras will be destroyed.
Its president, Datuk Ibrahim Ali (pic), was referring to Datuk Seri Najib Razak's Bumiputera economic agenda announced last Saturday which is essentially aimed at giving them a greater share of the economy.
“I am just reminding the government not to sign the TPPA. If the agreement goes through, it will threaten the country’s openness in commercial policy,” he said at a press conference in Kelab Sultan Sulaiman in Kuala Lumpur today.
“Perkasa urges the government to not look at the Bumiputera agenda only from a meritocracy angle as there are many out there who are not capable of competing.”
Ibrahim also wanted the government to inject RM1.4 trillion into the community to guarantee the success of the Bumiputera agenda and to ensure a Bumiputera Gross National Income (GNI) of RM900 billion by 2020.
“Right now, the GNI of Bumiputeras is RM56 million. So to achieve RM900 billion by 2020, the government must provide funds worth RM1.4 trillion to Bumiputeras,” he said.
Najib launched the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Council which has a five-pronged thrust to strengthen the Bumiputeras' profile in capital, corporate sector equity ownership, non-financial assets, entrepreneurship and commerce, and service delivery and ecosystem.
Ibrahim said RM80 billion was spent on subsidies in 2008, but the government's earnings suffered due to uncollected taxes.
He then referred to the New Economic Policy, and lamented that while non-Bumiputeras continued to thrive under it, the Malay community only has one tycoon among them.
“Did we make noise then? Malays don’t meddle in their businesses.
"How many non-Malay conglomerates benefitted from government funds and contracts?" he went on.
"We now only have one Malay tycoon. Is it wrong if we want two or three more?”
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