Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has urged all parties not to misread the efforts done by the government to further strengthen the Bumiputera's involvement in the Malaysian economy.

Najib stressed that the policy is not a short cut to elevate the status of Malays and Bumiputera nor is it a move to claim or deny the rights of other races.

"On behalf of the government, I would like to sincerely urge all parties to avoid having misjudgments and distrusts towards these efforts put in place to further empower the Bumiputera's involvement in the economy," he said.

Najib stressed this in his speech in a gathering at Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shah Alam today.

Five focus areas were announced during the event such as human capital developments through skills and education trainings as well to increase their involvement in equity market and real estate.

The strategic execution for these initiatives will be supervised by the newly formed Bumiputera Economic Council chaired by the Prime Minister himself and the Deputy Prime Minister.

The council is to replace the existing Bumiputera Agenda Action Council.

Najib said that the initiative is fair, right, and thorough without any prejudice towards other races.

"What is in the hearts and minds of the government and I is the passion to create and generate new wealth," he said

He hoped that what can be developed from their efforts can be felt by all in a fair manner.

In his speech, Najib recalled the achievements of the Bumiputera in the economy since Merdeka and the various economic policies introduced by the government starting from the New Economic Policy (NEP) that was introduced after the May 13th 1969 incident.

He is reminiscent of how the Malays and the Bumiputera are at the core of the national agenda and the two go hand in hand.

He added, any measures that do not reflect the national agenda or seek to ignore the Malays or Bumiputera agenda is not a fair agenda.

He also described the implementation of the NEP and the subsequent policies that has maintained the spirit of the NEP over the past four decades as the first phase of the transformation to elevate the Bumiputera economy.

However, the economic disparities between the races still exist as the monthly average income of the Chinese is still higher than the Bumiputera at a 1 to1.43 ratio.

This means that for every RM1 that is earned by a Bumiputera, the Chinese community gets RM1.43.

On the question of ownership of corporate equity, the 30 percent target has still not been achieved while Bumiputera participation in entrepreneurship is still not significant.

As an extension to these efforts, a MARA Education Fund worth RM1 billion will be established to help fund education, entrepreneurship, research and development as well as innovation training programmes.

The education fund will be established between MARA and the government by the ratio of 1:1 and will be disbursed in stages.