KUALA LUMPUR: The Bumiputera Economic Congress (KEB) 2024 which took place from Feb 29 to March 2 has successfully presented an agenda to empower the Bumiputera economy without marginalising other ethnic groups in the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
He said KEB 2024 involves the inclusion of various parties for the interests of the national economy, when it involves not only chambers of commerce representing the Malays and Muslims and other Bumiputeras such as Kadazandusun, Dayaks and Ibans but also Chinese and Indian chambers of commerce as well as various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) related to the economy.
"There is no agenda to marginalise aid to other ethnic groups in this country. There is no agenda to not implement development, instead there will be more (comprehensive) economic growth through the involvement of all bumiputera groups in addition to meeting the needs of other races in this country," he said in an exclusive interview with Bernama at Parliament House here.
Assuring that the interests of other races will also be given attention by the government, he said they are also given various assistance to operate their businesses.
Regarding the government's actions after KEB 2024, the Deputy Prime Minister said this week, he will chair a coordination meeting for the 82 resolutions of KEB 2024 as a follow-up action for the implementation of these resolutions.
"We will establish a permanent secretariat comprising the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development (KKDW) which has the Mara and the Ministry of Economy which has an Economic Planning Unit (EPU).
"The source of its power is the Bumiputera Economic Council (MEB) of which the Prime Minister is the chairman and I am the deputy chairman. The 82 resolutions involve 10 clusters that cover various fields and there may be some areas not covered that we will plan through MEB and continue to address some issues that have not been included (in the KEB resolution 2024)," he said.
Ahmad Zahid who is also the Minister of Rural and Regional Development said KEB 2024 is the third bumiputera economic congress organised by the government with the first being in 1965 and the second in 1968.
"After that, there were many more congresses organised by NGOs and several parties, but it was not a government decision but rather a proposal to the government," he said.
He said the Prime Minister had asked him to chair the steering committee for the MEB as its implementation involves various ministries and agencies involved in implementing the KEB 2024 resolutions.
"There are three committees for KEB 2024, namely the Main Committee which deals with policy issues, while the Steering Committee deals with policy issues for implementation. The third committee is the Working Committee, chaired by Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli, which will look at the expenditure that needs to be incurred and the delay in implementation," he said. – BERNAMA