Ali Baba is a term describing business practices in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

and

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

involving indigenous and non-indigenous cooperation to take advantage of affirmative action provisions favouring indigenous Malays or

Native Indonesians Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, Indi ...

. In this arrangement, a Malay or Indonesian becomes the front person for a firm which is financed and run by a Chinese person (who may be a local citizen).

Malaysia

Ali Baba is a business practice in

, where a Malay company obtains a contract from the government-sponsored affirmative action system for the

Bumiputera Bumiputera or Bumiputra, which is a Malay word, comes from the Sanskrit word ''Bhumiputra'' which may be transliterated as "son of earth" or "son of the soil" (Bhūmi; भूमि = earth; putra = son). It has different definitions in Brunei and M ...

(the Malaysian New Economic Policy under

Ketuanan Melayu ''Ketuanan Melayu'' (Jawi script: كتوانن ملايو; "Malay wikt:overlordship, Overlordship") is a political concept that emphasises Malaysian Malays, Malay preeminence in present-day Malaysia. The Malays of Malaysia have claimed a spe ...

) and subcontracts it to an ethnically Chinese-owned company. The “Ali”, which is a typical Muslim name, refers to the Malay; the “Baba” the Chinese, from the

Baba-Nyonya The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, t ...

(Straits Chinese) people.

Indonesia

The term Ali Baba came into usage when Iskaq Tjokrohadisurjo was Minister of Economics in the

First Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet The First Ali Sastroamidjojo Cabinet was an Indonesian cabinet named after the Prime Minister, and also known as 'Kabinet IV', that served from 1 August 1953 until 24 July 1955. Composition Cabinet Leadership *Prime Minister: Ali Sastroamidjoj ...

(30 July 1953 – 11 August 1955). Ekonomi Indonesia, Sistem Ekonomi Ali Baba

Purpose

This program was enacted to advance ''

pribumi Native Indonesians, also known as ''Pribumi'' (), are Indonesians whose ancestral roots lie mainly in the archipelago, distinguished from Indonesians of known (partial) foreign descent, like Chinese Indonesians (Tionghoa), Arab Indonesians, India ...

'' – who were also called ''

'' before

Soeharto Suharto (; ; 8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian army officer and politician, who served as the second and the longest serving president of Indonesia. Widely regarded as a military dictator by international observers, Suharto l ...

's New Order which means ethnically native businessman (but now also includes women) – to engage ''pribumi'' businessmen in order to advance national economics, to transition the economic system from a colonial system to a national system, and to encourage cooperation between ''pribumi'' and non-''pribumi'' businessmen. Ali (a typical Muslim name) represents ''pribumi'', while Baba (sometimes a collective name for

peranakan The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...

Chinese), represents non-''pribumi'' and is associated with

Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

Practice

When this program was in effect, ''pribumi'' businessman was ordered to give training and responsibility to Indonesian workforce in order to hold staff position as government gave loan and licence to national private business. Government also gave protection in order to compete with foreign businesses. However, this program was ended in failure because less experience of 'pribumi' businessman, liberal system was in effect and less compete ability of 'pribumi' businessman. However, the core of this program, which in favor of native people, is resurfaced as new concept of ''putra daerah'' (which may be literally translated as "son of the land"), as autonomy system instated. In this concept, many official position, contract and education seat will be awarded to native. However, this concept is not acknowledged officially.

References

{{reflist Economy of Malaysia Economy of Indonesia