KUALA LUMPUR: Pelaburan Hartanah Berhad (PHB) has increased the fund size of Amanah Hartanah Bumiputra (AHB) by another 500 million units to increase bumiputra ownership of commercial properties.

This now brings the fund size to 4 billion units, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib, who is chairman of Yayasan Amanah Hartanah Bumiputra, the parent company of PHB, said the commercial properties would be strategically-located in cities nationwide.

He said the empowerment of the bumiputra community must be looked at from a more holistic and comprehensive dimension.

The entire eco-system, including social mobility of the community, must be looked at in order for it to be economically successful, he said.

"That is why wealth cannot be measured just in term of shares, it also has to be looked at in terms of properties.

"Therefore the properties owned by the bumiputra community must also be taken into consideration.

"The community should not merely own properties in rural or semi-urban areas or in small towns, there must also be high participation in owning properties in prime and main areas where there will be higher returns," said Najib in his speech at the launching ceremony here on Friday.

AHB, which is the first syariah compliant unit trust fund backed by real estate, was launched in 2010.

Its initial fund size of one billion units has increased three times (in 2012, 2013 and 2016), bringing it to the total fund size to four billion units.

AHB is presently backed by 19 commercial properties made up of a diverse range of assets comprising of office buildings, specialist hospitals, shopping malls and logistic warehouse.