Bumiputera entrepreneur numbers still below target — Gabem

KUCHING: Bumiputera only account for 22 per cent of the entire population of the nation’s entrepreneurship community despite national efforts to increase Bumiputera participation in the entrepreneurship sector,

“In the 1970s, there were only about three to four per cent involvement, and now it has only reached 22 per cent where the original target in the 1990s was to have 30 per cent Bumiputera involvement,” said Federation of Malay Economic Bodies (Gabem) Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Datuk Amar Dr Rahim Tamby Chik

He was speaking during a press conference after officiating at ` Program Konsolidasi Patriotisme Ekonomi Bumiputera’ (Bumiputera Economy Patriotism Consolidation Programme) at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Kota Samarahan yesterday.

The one day programme featured presentations by Gabem legislative fellow Sahlan Saruddin, Gabem research fellow Prof Madya Dr Muhammad Rozi Malim and UiTM lecturer in business management Dr Abang Zainoren Abang Abdurahman.

“However, I am confident under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, we can achieve at least 30 per cent involvement of Bumiputera by 2020,” Rahim said.

“The message we are trying to convey right now is to encourage more Bumiputera graduates to be involved in entrepreneurship.” He added that by focusing on getting more Bumiputera graduates involved in entrepreneurship, a higher rate of successful entrepreneurs would be possible, as they possess a higher education background.

To encourage students to participate in entrepreneurship, universities could help provide fundamental entrepreneurship knowledge in the form of a second qualification to teach students how to manage their own companies effectively and their projects profitably, Rahim suggested.

He also announced that GABEM had engaged three universities to conduct research on Bumiputera entrepreneurs.

“We would like to see the universities play positive and constructive roles in producing not only knowledgeable students but also help in identifying the problems faced by the entrepreneurial community,” he said.

For the research which will be conducted from October until March next year, Gabem chose UiTM Shah Alam to conduct research on online businesses, UniKL on homestay entrepreneurship and Universiti Malaya ( UM) on industrialised building systems (IBS).

The research will explore scenarios and problems experienced by Bumiputera entrepreneurs as well as propose solutions. According to Rahim, Gabem had received an allocation of RM1 million from the state government to conduct Sarawakoriented programmes, for which the organisation will propose UiTM Sarawak to research.

“We are hoping that the state government would agree to have UiTM Sarawak conduct more comprehensive, integrated and multi- dimensional research regarding the situation and conditions faced by the Bumiputera community in entrepreneurship,” he said.

Rahim noted that a more comprehensive approach was needed to look into important aspects pertaining to Sarawak to see which sector would benefit the state more.

He added that if their proposal was accepted by the state government and successfully conducted, UiTM Sarawak’s research findings would be presented to the federal government along with those of UiTM Shah Alam, UniKL and UM so that their methods and solutions could be introduced and applied nationwide.

Also present during the ceremony was UiTM Sarawak Rector Prof Datuk Dr Jamil Hamali.