KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin has called on the Malays to look at the New Economic Model (NEM) as an opportunity, not as a threat.He said he understood the concern of Malay entrepreneurs and its impact on the achievement and share of Malays in the economy during the mega transformation suggested through NEM.
“I would like to stress that the government would never neglect and disregard the Malays’ economic interest.
“The government remains committed to ensuring that the social justice agenda becomes an important driver to the country’s future direction,” he said when closing the 2010 Malay Entrepreneur Convention organised by the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia here yesterday.
He said all parties should realise that each policy to be implemented would take time and need to be adjusted accordingly based on the challenges faced.
“To achieve a good outcome, the government also stresses innovativeness in implementing a particular policy.
“The Malays should not be too obsessed with processes and procedures and instead concentrate on output.
Being pragmatic and practical is better than being dogmatic,” he said.
Muhyiddin said that to succeed, the Malays should look into themselves and practise “kaizen” or continuous improvement.
“The Malays should look at where they have gone off track and why the 30 per cent equity has yet to be achieved.
“We need to admit that lackadaisical attitude and depending solely on the government are two main reasons that keep the Malays from being able to have control over the economy,” he said.
Hence, he urged all parties to learn and make assessment of this fact criticallly to ensure that the implementation of future policies achieve their objectives.
Muhyiddin said the government always gave due attention to the development of small and medium enterprises since they were the backbone of national economy, constituting 99.2 per cent of active businesses in Malaysia.
Most Malay traders were small and medium entrepreneurs involved in the service and manufacturing sectors.
He said they had to be brave in exploring new fields in high value sectors that had yet to be controlled by others, including new markets in growth regions.
“They also should strive to enhance exposure and seize opportunities from international integration, for example through free trade agreements which can benefit many parties,” he said.
The young professionals also should be more creative and innovative using the latest knowledge to become the biggest contributor towards the formation and realisation of the NEM.
At the function, chamber president Syed Ali Alattas handed over a 52-point resolution of the convention to Muhyiddin. — Bernama