Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : GOVERNMENT HOUSE, PORT LOUIS
Tarikh/Date : 16/08/88
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL DINNER HOSTED IN HIS
HONOUR BY HIS EXCELLENCY SIR
ANEEROOD JUGNAUTHTHE PRIME
MINISTER OF MAURITIUS
Your Excellency Sir Aneerood Jugnauth,
and Lady Jugnauth;
Excellencies;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a great pleasure for me to be here in Port Louis,
a city I am visiting for the first time. In the short while
I have been here I have discovered just how beautiful and
cosmopolitan Mauritius is. I am especially touched, Mr.
Prime Minister, by the warm welcome accorded to me, my wife
and my delegation since our arrival. May I take this
opportunity to express our gratitude for the very warm and
gracious hospitality which you have so kindly shown to us.
Mr. Prime Minister,
2. Allow me at this juncture to extend my heartiest
congratulations to you and your partners in the ruling
alliance for having emerged victorious in three general
elections consecutively. The victory is a clear endorsement
of your leadership that has so ably steered Mauritius on the
path of progress. I sincerely look forward to working with
you and your colleagues to enhance relations between
Mauritius and Malaysia for the benefit of our two countries
and peoples in the years ahead. These contacts are very
much in keeping with the concept of greater South South
relations.
3. We meet, Mr. Prime Minister, at a time of profound
changes within countries and in relations between countries.
Societies in transition pose particular problems of
management to decision-makers. Often solutions require
trans-national adjustments. Yet in a world that only
grudgingly concedes an objective inter-dependence of
nations, adjustment processes are painfully slow. Small
nations such as ours cannot afford to wait for a general
global enlightenment. Our needs are more pressing. We each
have to seize the initiative to forge linkages with the
like-minded, to build to the best of our abilities the
economic safety-net so important for the independent
survival of our countries.
4. I observe with admiration, Mr. Prime Minister, that
Mauritius has equipped itself well to meet the challenges of
a society in transition. You and your government have
wisely guided the affairs of Mauritius both at home and
abroad. Your creative policies at home have been matched by
constructive initiatives regionally and internationally. I
look forward to working closely with you in our endeavours
to create a better life for both our peoples.
Mr Prime Minister,
5. Mauritius and Malaysia share a lot of things in common.
We are small nations and our economies are export-oriented.
Our well-being depend much on the vitality of the global
economy and it is therefore important that we endeavour to
do our bit to contribute towards the openness of the world
economy. We can and should work together to safeguard our
vital interests both bilaterally and multilaterally.
6. I am happy, Mr. Prime Minister, that our two countries
have already made a beginning in this direction. We
established formal diplomatic relations in January last
year. Subsequently, Mauritius hosted an official Malaysian
delegation and a follow-up business delegation towards the
middle of the same year. We have signed today the agreement
to establish a Joint Commission for Economic and Technical
Cooperation. The establishment of the Joint Commission will
enable our two countries not only to facilitate our growing
relations but also to take stock of their state from time to
time and make running adjustments as and when necessary. I
am confident that our economic relations, at present
somewhat narrow in scope, could be both expanded and
deepened for our mutual benefit. Our mutual progress in
recent years offer excellent opportunities to explore new
avenues for cooperation even as we seek to entrench previous
and present ones. There are elements of complementarity in
our economies that we could usefully develop for our mutual
benefit.
Mr. Prime Minister,
7. While it is important that relations between two
countries are premised on healthy economic interactions, it
is also equally essential that political links are cemented
at the highest possible level. I hope my visit to Mauritius
will soon be followed by your own visit to Malaysia and that
many more Mauritian political and business leaders will also
take the opportunity to do so.
8. Mauritius and Malaysia share common membership in many
international groupings. Our basic perspectives and
approaches do not differ much. The great moral and ethical
problems confronting us today - racial injustice and
political repression under apartheid in South Africa,
Israel's illegal occupation of Arab lands and continued
opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state, the
conflict in Afghanistan and the occupation of Kampuchea by
foreign forces, the ever-widening North-South economic
inequities and the ever-escalating arms race - require that
we should cooperate more closely to strengthen international
solidarity to resolve them. Malaysia, like Mauritius,
believes that the United Nations has a primary role to play
in ensuring international peace and security.
Mr. Prime Minister,
9. Allow me to express my sincere appreciation for the
time you have taken and the effort you and your Government
have made to make my brief visit not only useful from the
official point of view but also memorable from the personal
point of view.
10. May I now invite this distinguished gathering to join
me in a toast to the Government and people of Mauritius and
to His Excellency Sir Aneerood Jugnauth and Lady Jugnauth
and to the ever-expanding relations between Mauritius and
Malaysia.
Thank you.
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