SHAH ALAM, Aug 22 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has today reminded Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) of its “sacred” obligation to elevate the Bumiputera community’s socio-economic status.
Speaking at the launch of a PNB campaign, Anwar said the government investment fund was founded to prevent ethnic strife that stemmed from wealth inequality among the ethnic groups.
“If we are talking about saving the race and nation, it must be done in a positive way — how to elevate their standing but not by destroying anyone,” Anwar said in his opening address here.
“That was the framework designed [for PNB] by our forefathers.”
Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) is one of the big five government investment-linked funds, overseeing assets worth RM343.1 billion as of late 2021.
The fund was founded as a vehicle to raise Bumiputera equity and companies, a key initiative of the New Economic Policy introduced by the country’s second prime minister Tun Abdul Razak as a way to close the wealth gap between the country’s Bumiputera communities and ethnic Chinese.
Its subsidiary, Amanah Saham Nasional Berhad, is currently Malaysia’s largest Bumiputera unit trust management firm, overseeing 18 funds valued at RM276.48 billion as at December 31 2023.
But decades after its founding, Bumiputera equity ownership remains far below the 30 per cent target, at just 17.2 per cent.
Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli said on Monday Bumiputera ownership in public listed companies stood at just 7 per cent as of 2022, representing 62 companies out of the 945 listed on Bursa Malaysia.
Earlier this week, the Anwar government unveiled the new Bumiputera Economic Transformation Plan 2035 (PuTERA35) to boost Bumiputera socio-economic status by raising the number of Bumiputera in skilled jobs, moving away from the 30 per cent equity target.
Anwar praised PNB for what it’s done to increase Bumiputera wealth but said the fund must look at “different ways” to do it now.
He urged for more investment in education, food security, energy transition and digitalisation, key agendas his government have rolled out in the last two years since taking power.
“What we need to do is gear up. What this means is we need to combine all our strengths and resources and focus it into new areas that benefit a wider number of people,” the prime minister said.
“For example, we face the (challenge) of digitalisation. We have what we call energy transition. We have a problem with food inadequacy, which affects our food security. We have to streamline our agencies so that their actions yield outcomes that are more effective,” Anwar added.
“When I visited India, I saw the same thing. If a country wants quicker growth, it has to be ready to make that leap. So PNB cannot move and operate based on strategies from 20 years ago.”
Anwar led a delegation to India earlier this week where he secured potentially RM8 billion in trade of palm oil and palm oil-based products, chemicals and chemical products, oil and gas, as well as aircraft spare part sectors.
The prime minister concluded his three-day official visit to India today where he met with his counterpart Narendra Modi.
Anwar said Indian companies would potentially invest up to RM4.5 billion in Malaysia after he held trade talks with top Indian officials and some of the country’s corporate leaders.
