Digest on Malaysian News

Najib Tun Razak yesterday launched the ‘Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera’ (Teraju) to further strengthen the Bumiputera development agenda.

The prime minister said the unit would lead, coordinate and drive Bumiputera economic participation through new and existing initiatives.

He said Teraju has been tasked to focus on five areas; They are:

• Entrepreneurship and Wealth Creation
• Funding
• Education and Employment
• Institutional and Policy Instrument Review
• Stakeholder Management

Najib was speaking to reporters after chairing the Bumiputera Agenda Action Council (MTAB) meeting at his office here.

Present were Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan.

To ensure effective implementation of Bumiputera initiatives, Najib said Teraju’s roles and functions would encompass several aspects and dimensions.

“Teraju has been asked to produce results in a short period. This include taking actions that can yield success in a short span of time.

“Teraju has also been asked to enhance institutional effectiveness including reviewing existing institutions to see whether there are no overlapping of duties with other bodies and institutions and to gauge the effectiveness of the institutions and programmes being implemented,” he said.

The prime minister said Teraju would also function as the secretariat for MTAB besides working with related agencies to identify new programmes so that all actions taken were well coordinated, he said.

To ensure effective and objective assessment of the initiatives, Najib said Teraju would update its database and monitor programmes underway.

“Teraju is also required to cooperate and be closely engaged with stakeholders including chambers of business, non-governmental organisations and related bodies with regard to the programmes implemented,” he said.

To spearhead Teraju’s operations, Najib said Husni Salleh has been appointed as the chief executive officer.

Husni was previously the CEO of MAVCAP (Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd) with more than 20 years experience in investment and venture capital.

Since its inception, Teraju has been planning the launch and implementation of the Bumiputera Agenda Transformation Programme, similar to the Government-Linked Companies (GLCs) Transformation which was initiated in 2004.

Meanwhile, Husni said Teraju would work hand-in-hand with Pemandu, the Performance Management and Delivery Unit, to organise a series of labs beginning end of this month to discuss Bumiputera agenda issues.

“We’ll take about six weeks to prepare the proposals on economic opportunities for Bumiputeras to be forwarded to MTAB for approval before being implemented,” he said.

Among the proposed initiatives to be implemented under Teraju are adopting the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) or devise new programmes under ETP, he added.— Bernama