Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 04/11/89
Tajuk/Title : THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF THE
MALAYSIA-US PRIVATE SECTOR
CONSULTATIVE GROUP
Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a pleasure for me to be here this morning to
address this distinguished gathering of industrialists,
bankers and businessmen from the United States and Malaysia
on the occasion of this inaugural meeting of the Malaysia-US
Private Sector Consultative Group. This Group was set up to
assist the fostering of greater friendship and to promote
better economic relations between the two countries. I wish
to congratulate the organising committee for making this
meeting possible.
Ladies and gentlemen,
2. Malaysia and the US have enjoyed a long history of good
and friendly relations. Trade between our countries has
continued to increase and lately has reached new heights.
I am pleased to note that the value of trade in the past ten
years has gone up by almost three times, growing from only
6.7 billion Ringgit in 1979 to 17.3 billion Ringgit in 1988.
This has made the United States Malaysia's second most
important trading partner. Statistics for the first half of
this year indicate that trade between the two countries has
continued to remain high.
3. I am also happy to observe that investments from
American companies in Malaysia have seen a steady climb
since the early 70s. In 1987, the paid-up capital of US
investments has almost doubled compared to the amount in
1980, and more importantly, the fixed assets investments in
these companies during this period have almost trebled. It
shows that US companies have contributed significantly
to the industrial development of Malaysia.
4. Figures recently released by the Malaysian Industrial
Development Authority or MIDA indicate that there has also
been a steady increase in the number of projects with US
interests approved last year and up till August this year.
Project with US interests approved by MIDA in 1988 showed an
increase of 150%. The proposed capital investment for the
approved projects in 1988 showed an increase of more than
three times. The number of projects with US interests
approved in the first 8 months of 1989 is also encouraging.
All these show that US companies continue to have strong
confidence in Malaysia's political and economic stability as
well as the favourable investment climate which the country
offers. This augurs well for our efforts to diversify
foreign investments in Malaysia.
5. Despite the growth in trade and investment, I believe
that there are still tremendous opportunities for even
greater economic and trade cooperation between Malaysia and
the US. I would urge this group to play a supportive role
in furthering the development of trade and economic
relations between our countries. The Malaysian Government
will give full support to you and your activities.
6. Following the strong economic growth experienced
worldwide last year, the Malaysian economy in 1988
experienced 8.7% growth, higher than the projected growth
for the year and higher still compared to 5.2% achieved in
1987. This is even more significant considering that most
of this growth is due to the private sector rather than
expansionary budgeting by the Government as in the past. The
better than expected performance was also due to strong
domestic demand arising from continuing strong external
demand for our exports. The high commodity prices in 1987
and 1988 have led to significant improvement in real incomes
and consequently large increases in total private
consumption and investment. Judging from the high level of
output and exports recorded during the first half of this
year, Malaysia's economy is poised for another year of
strong growth in 1989, albeit at a slightly reduced pace
compared to 1988. Growth for the whole of this year is
projected to be at slightly above 7%.
7. With the thrust of the nation's economy and development
in the future expected to come from the industrial sector,
the Malaysian Government is committed to a programme of
rapid industrialisation. With a rapidly growing and well
educated population, we need both labour-intensive and
increasingly sophisticated industries to create suitable job
opportunities. Agriculture, forestry and primary industries
cannot provide sufficient jobs even though there is still
room for expansion and diversification in these areas. To
industrialise, we will need for a long time to come foreign
expertise both in manufacturing as well as marketing. We
hope that the close cooperation fostered by your Group will
enable more manufacturing including joint ventures to be set
up.
Ladies and gentlemen,
8. The nineties is just around the corner. With the
advancement in technology in the field of transportation and
communication, distance and national boundaries will no
longer present barriers to doing business. As a result, the
decade will see intense competition. There is no doubt that
adjustments will need to be made to remain com petitive. The
rules of survival will be changed. Under this scenario, to
achieve success, companies will have to go abroad, either in
search of new markets or to develop new products. They
will have to be present in the major markets, namely North
America, Western Europe, and the Pacific Rim countries.
The new strategy of doing business in the nineties will also
require companies to do more than just setting up plants
and conducting business in the host country. They will have
to view themselves as part of the community in which they
operate and be sensitive to the needs and aspirations of the
local community and country. Corporate citizenship means
just that -- responsibility and concern for the country you
are in.
9. Globalism is the in-thing. Because globalism will
bring more benefit to developing countries like Malaysia, we
will give full support to global companies. With our
economy highly dependent on exports, Malaysia realises the
importance to lure companies to invest in this country.
Malaysia's combination of raw materials, manpower, energy,
infrastructure, realistic government policies and attractive
incentives provide investors a base from which to launch
their marketing drive into the lucrative markets of the
Pacific Rim, particularly ASEAN, China and Japan. I hope
that you will have the opportunity to discuss the subject of
globalism in your deliberations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
10. Allow me now to address the more current issues of
concern between Malaysia and the US. After having
successfully brushed aside a bruising campaign against
tropical oils, which singles out our palm oil, Malaysia is
now faced with yet another campaign directed at one of our
commodity exports. This time it is the anti-tropical
hardwood campaign. The Malaysian Government takes a serious
view of this campaign and sees vested interests out to
protect their own temperate climate soft timber industry.
Allegations regarding the destruction of the tropical
rainforests with their insect and animal population and the
exploitation of the abode of the Penans sound rather hollow
in the face of massive logging in the countries where these
conservationists come from and their failure to limit their
own extensive pollution of the environment.
11. Malaysia is not without concern for environmental
issues but maintenance of the ecological balance is a
responsibility of everyone and not the developing countries
alone. Malaysia is very proud of her natural rainforests. We
take great pains to manage them and have spent significant
amounts of money and effort to preserve them. If and when
we approve timber concessions, strict conditions are imposed
on the logging companies. Infact, the natural beauty
of our country is one of the most valuable asset which we
are selling abroad in our effort to promote Malaysia's
tourism industry. And as you can see as you fly over
Malaysia this is very much a green country with vast
expanses of forests clearly untouched. There are not many
cities as green as Kuala Lumpur.
12. With regard to the Penan people, there is nothing
romantic in the primitive way of life of the few of them who
still remain in the forest. They are ignorant,
undernourished, prone to all kinds of diseases and have a
shorter life-span than the average Malaysian. To force them
to continue living this primitive way of life is to deny
them the benefits of modern medicine and education. What
right have we who have emerged from our own caves centuries
ago to deny them the benefit of the discoveries and the
improvements we have achieved. It is most cruel to use the
Penans to put a human face to a campaign against our timber
industry merely to excite sympathy and support. The Penans
are a minority in Malaysia. If we want to discuss minority
problems let us discuss minority problems everywhere.
13. I would like to assure you that the Malaysian
Government is as sensitive as the industrialised countries
with regard to the environment. The fact that we were
responsible for the drafting of the Commonwealth Langkawi
Dec laration on the Environment and that we acceded to the
1985 Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer
and the 1987 Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer bear testimony to our concern for the
global environment. When we extract some much needed wealth
from our forests, you can be assured that we do so with all
due consideration for the environment. Though a developing
country, we are not irresponsible.
Ladies and gentlemen,
14. The unofficial character of this Group will allow you
to freely discuss and criticise official policies and
procedures in both countries. Hopefully this will lead to
very open discussions which in turn may help to highlight
problems and their possible solutions. I hope that you will
have a successful deliberation in this meeting and that you
would be able to achieve substantial progress.
15. I also hope that you will have time to explore Kuala
Lumpur, and to enjoy yourself. Now, it is my pleasure to
declare this inaugural meeting of the Malaysia-US Private
Sector Consultative Group open.
Thank you.
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