Listed companies will no longer have to sell at least 30 percent of their shares to ethnic Malays, Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced. Instead listed firms will have to sell 25 percent of their shares to the general public, of which half will be reserved for Malays.

Najib says that the old rule didn’t benefit poor Malays and wasn’t sustainable in the global economic slowdown. “The world is changing quickly and we must be ready to change with it or risk being left behind,” he says.

And he added, “ We will help the best and the good in business. We want to be fair to all communities. No one must feel marginalised – it is a tricky balancing act but it is doable.”

In addition, it has been announced that foreigners will no longer be required to get approval from the Foreign Investment Committee before buying residential or commercial property in Malaysia.

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