Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) was established on July 1, 1956 under the Land Development Ordinance of 1956 for the development of land and relocation with the objective of poverty eradication through the cultivation of oil palm and rubber. The FELDA function is to carry out projects of land development and agricultural activities, industrial and commercial social economy.
In 1990, FELDA was no longer recruiting new settlers. Government has entrusted FELDA to stand with their own financial and become a statutory body that can generate their own income to support various development through a variety of businesses. Consequently, from 1996 onwards the government does not channel any provision to the schemes. In an effort to generate income, FELDA has launched a number of private corporate entities primarily to ensure complete value chain of its core activities. Among the largest are FELDA Holding Berhad, Felda Plantation Sdn Bhd and Felda Global Ventures (FGV). To ensure the increase in income of settlers, Koperasi Permodalan Felda (KPF) was established, which was initially involved with Felda Holding. After FGV was listed on Bursa Malaysia in June 2012, FELDA also form Felda Investement Corporation (FIC).
Today, Felda continues to carry major role by providing adequate and modern facilities on the schemes, ensuring the next generation of explorers educated to enhance the socio-economic and quality of life and ensuring the schemes can generate various economic activities as well as bridging the gap between urban and small urban areas. FELDA focus is to be the 'Economic Powerhouse' in generating economic activities in 2020 through its structural program with a wide range of human capital potential.