Relevant, but needs updating: M’sia must rethink NEP, says economist

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR – The government should find new ways to carry out both universalist and group-targeted policies instead of trying to completely replace the “race-based” New Economic Policy (NEP) with “needs-based” policies, said economist Lee Hwok Aun.

“It has been almost 50 years since the NEP (was introduced), with this stance of not having any race-based policies at all, but only need-based policies instead.

“Malaysia needs to stop thinking this way. The two approaches do not contradict each other. Instead, we need to find a balance between the two,” he said.

Lee, a senior fellow at the Iseas-Yusof Ishak Institute, said this at a seminar titled “Rethinking the New Economic Policy: 50 Years of Polarisation and Impasse” at Universiti Malaya (UM).

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