NEP did not fail, it did not finish

SHAH ALAM - The New Economic Policy (NEP) did not fail, but it is unfinished.

This, Malay Economic Action Council senior fellow Ahmad Yazid Othman said was due to failure to restructure the economy.

Based on data, Yazid said poverty in Malaysia has definitely been reduced and even recognised by a lot of international institutions.

He said the government introduced various programmes under the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara), among others which saw millions of people being lifted out of poverty.

“In fact, most government-linked companies now have a lot of talented, qualified corporate individuals of Malay people that shows that they are able to participate in the corporate world in a way never imagined before because most were mainly farmers, people in rural areas. So I think NEP did not fail.

“We also have not finished deracialising the economy because we could not restructure how the economy was and until today we can see based on different sectors, there are certain sectors still dominated by certain ethnic profile,” he said.

He said this during Sinar Daily's Wacana English Edition programme entitled "Mission Impossible: Breakdown of Race and Politics”.

He said one thing that NEP did was help improve the Bumiputera's participation in the economy.

However, he said it did not manage to complete its purpose until today in terms of corporate equity.

"If you look in terms of corporate equity, we had a target of 30 per cent but as of last data we had 70 per cent. That reflected that whatever we wanted to achieve did not happen.

"Most of our contractors are government contractors who are unable to compete, even if you look at the top 10 companies and individuals in Malaysia, I don't see the Bumiputeras in the higher positions," he said.

He added that a solution needed to be in place so that there will be a balance and to ensure real economic justice.

Yazid also hoped that the newly elected political party in the 15th General Election (GE15) will be able to figure out a way to make the country better.