RM36.06b contracts from mega projects earmarked for bumi firms

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 9): A total of RM36.06 billion worth of contracts out of RM78.84 billion worth of investments under 12 mega projects have been earmarked for bumiputera companies, according to the Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Report Card 2015.

The 12 projects include the mass rapid transit (MRT) Line 1 and MRT Line 2, KL118 Tower, the West Coast Expressway (Taiping to Banting), Bukit Bintang City Centre, Asia Aerospace City, and the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway.

The contracts will be disbursed under the Carve-Out and Compete Programme helmed by Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera (Teraju), which provides opportunities to bumiputera companies to be awarded contracts from mega projects.

Teraju has also generated RM6.6 billion in value through the vendor development programme, which aims to help entrepreneurs become competitive suppliers and manufacturers of component or services in domestic and global markets

Teraju also reported that a total of RM164.4 million was generated from asset disposals of government-linked investment companies and government-linked companies.

Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has also managed to sell a total of 2.72 billion Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2
(ASB2) units out of the 10 billion ASB2 units launched on April 2, 2014, the report stated. There were 117,034 ASB2 account holders as of August 2015, it added. The report also stated that to date, PNB has recorded a subscription of RM165 billion under its 10 trust funds through the participation of 11.15 million bumiputera.

On affordable housing, Syarikat Perumahan Negara Bhd has allocated 28,277 housing units for bumiputera through the construction of Rumah Idaman Rakyat with prices of houses below RM350,000 and shoplots below RM1 million, affordable homes and the Rumah Mesra Rakyat 1Malaysia policy, which offers new houses at subsidised prices to low-income landowners.

From 2011 to 2015, UDA Holdings Bhd developed 20,149 units of affordable housing specifically for the bumiputera community.

The bumiputera property trust fund under Perlaburan Hartanah Bhd (PHB) has increased to two billion units from one billion units since its establishment in 2010, the report stated. The property trust fund was established to help bumiputera own a stake in prime real estate.

As of 2015, the ownership of Amanah Hartanah Bumiputera assets through PHB amounts to RM8.5 billion.

The report also stated that from 2011 to 2015, the bumiputera property trust fund distributed a total of RM430.6 million in income to unit account holders.

Ekuiti Nasional Bhd also recorded a RM4.2 billion increase in equity ownership, which was worth 1.9 times the capital amount.

From 2011 to 2015, the Mara Entrepreneur Guarantee Scheme distributed funds to a total of 31,370 entrepreneurs, while 158,956 people participated in various entrepreneur development programmes over the same period.

Teraju was established in February 2011 to coordinate and drive bumiputera economic participation through existing and new initiatives, as well as to propose institutional reforms towards increased effectiveness. The unit’s focus is on entrepreneurship and wealth creation, funding, education and employment, institutional and policy review, as well as stakeholder engagement.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Dec 9, 2015. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.