Malaysia will set up a trust to expand education, home ownership and other affirmative action measures for ethnic Malays and indigenous people as part of the state's policies to further boost their share of the economic pie, Prime Minister Najib Razak said during a televised address Saturday.
"What we are doing is equitable and it does not take away the rights of any other individual or their interests," Najib said. "The New Economic Policy for Bumiputeras (ethnic Malays and indigenous people) has proven to reduce the gap among races, including socio-economic development of Bumiputeras, for four decades."
Malaysia's Permodalan Nasional Bhd will set up a 10 billion ringgit ($3 billion) unit trust to support skills training, education and home ownership among Malays and indigenous people, Najib said. It will additionally provide 700 million ringgit to support young Malay entrepreneurs, he said.