MITI Urges Anchor Companies To Help Produce Malaysia's Bumi Vendor Firms

By Azlee Nor Mahmud RAWANG (Selangor, Malaysia), Aug 12 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has urged more anchor companies to take the initiative to help produce more Bumiputera (term to describe the Malay race and other indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia) vendor companies. Its Deputy Minister, Ahmad Maslan, said this would help increase the number of Bumiputera vendor companies because there were already many non-Bumiputera vendor firms. "Till end-June 2016, 18 anchor companies have produced a total of 1,409 firms under the Vendor Development Programme (VDP)," he told Bernama here Thursday. Among the 18 anchor companies are Petroleum Nasional Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Proton Holdings Bhd, KTM Bhd, CCM Chemicals Sdn Bhd and Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd, Celcom Axiata Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, UMW Bhd and Pharmaniaga Bhd. He said vendor companies could register with MITI under the VDP to enjoy access to various assistance like advisory services and technological expertise. --BERNAMA