Datuk Seri Najib Razak says the programme was rooted in allowing the businesses to know who to conduct their dealings with as the government and government-linked companies had sufficient information on them. —TRP file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19, 2015:

The newly-launched “Bahtera: Bumipreneurs of Tomorrow” programme will create a new market among Bumiputera businesses while consolidating their relationships for their benefit, the Prime Minister said.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the “Big Data” programme, which involved the Companies Commission of Malaysia and Teraju, among others, would compile information on the businesses to streamline their networking.

Najib said Bahtera would allow the entrepreneurs to market their businesses, while fostering relationships in the supply chain.

“This allows them to obtain all sorts of supplies from Bumiputera companies,” he said in his speech during the programme’s launching at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre here this evening.

Najib added the programme was rooted in allowing the businesses to know who to conduct their dealings with as the government and government-linked companies (GLCs) had sufficient information on them.

“They would also be able to communicate among each other so that they can determine how they can conduct their businesses.”

Also present was Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.

Irwan said some 114,000 businesses had been registered with the initiative which targeted 500,000 registrations by the end of next year.

He added the programme would also be open to non-Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the future.