Kuala lumpur: The government is targeting 10 Bumiputera companies to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2026 and 2027, with four of them already in the pipeline for listing this year, said government spokesperson Datuk Fahmi Fadzil. He said the target was among the outcomes of the Bumiputera Economic Council meeting, which was presented to the Cabinet today.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Fahmi, who is also communications minister, stated that the target significantly exceeds the achievement recorded over the previous five years. "To support this target, the '10 Bumiputera Champions' programme, a collaboration involving government-linked investment companies (GLICs), has been introduced to nurture high-potential companies and develop 10 Bumiputera companies each valued at RM500 million by 2028," he mentioned at a weekly press conference.
Fahmi highlighted that the ecosystems of Petronas, GLICs, and government-linked companies (GLCs) are among the key contributors to the country's Bumiputera development agenda. He noted that these ecosystems contribute about RM50 billion annually, including RM49.2 billion last year, through direct investments, vendor procurement, talent development, and community programmes.
He also announced that new Bumiputera vendor development guidelines have been introduced to strengthen the vendor development pipeline and enhance vendors' capabilities in a more structured and effective manner. Additionally, the Cabinet is considering a proposal by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives to shorten payment periods by GLCs and GLICs to local vendors to enhance cash flow management for both companies and vendors.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet received a briefing on the operational performance of federal ports in the first quarter of this year, which handled 8.002 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), marking an increase of 8.1 per cent from the corresponding period last year. This growth was driven by Malaysia's role as a key global transhipment hub, with transhipment activities growing 9.96 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2025.
Fahmi added that conventional cargo throughput also rose 2.9 per cent year-on-year, led by an 8.93 per cent increase in general cargo and a 3.55 per cent rise in dry bulk cargo handling. This performance is particularly noteworthy despite the geopolitical crisis in West Asia, which began around the first quarter of this year.