PUTRAJAYA, March 2 — A permanent secretariat will be formed immediately for the purpose of monitoring the implementation of resolutions presented at the 2024 Bumiputera Economic Congress, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said that the secretariat will be placed under the Bumiputera Economic Council (MEB) chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Zahid said that he, as the chairman of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), is responsible for overseeing and executing what has been approved by the MEB.

"The responsibility is to consider decisions and resolutions that have been endorsed by the MEB,” he said at a press conference after the closing ceremony of KEB 2024 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) here today.

Regarding the RM100 million launching grant for the establishment of the MARA Madani endowment fund announced by Anwar at the closing ceremony of KEB 2024, he said that MARA, as the implementing agency, has been given two years to raise RM1 billion in funds.

The clusters established in KEB 2024 include Educational Reform and Human Capital; Technical and Vocational Education and Training (Main Career Options), and Halal Industry Strengthening.

Other clusters include Rural Development and Empowerment of Orang Asli Communities; Wealth Creation and Corporate Ownership; Bumiputera Corporate Competitiveness; New Technology Mastery; Felda and Federal Territories Land; Socioeconomy of Bumiputeras in Sabah and Socioeconomy of Bumiputeras in Sarawak.

The three-day congress was attended by 3,000 participants including representatives from Malay, Kadazan, Dusun, Iban, and Dayak business chambers as well as representatives of the Orang Asli community. — Bernama