Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue :
Tarikh/Date : 28/02/91
Tajuk/Title : MALAYSIAN BUSINESS COUNCIL - THE
WAY FORWARD (WORKING PAPER)
The purpose of this paper is to present before you some
thoughts on the future course of our nation and how we
should go about to attain our objective of developing
Malaysia into an industrialised country. Also outlined are
some measures that should be in place in the shorter term so
that the foundations can be laid for the long journey to-
wards that ultimate objective.
2. Hopefully the Malaysian who is born today and in the
years to come will be the last generation of our citizens
who will be living in a country that is called 'developing'.
The ultimate objective that we should aim for is a Malaysia
that is a fully developed country by the year 2020.
3. What, you might rightly ask, is 'a fully developed
country'? Do we want to be like any particular country of
the present 19 countries that are generally regarded as 'de-
veloped countries'? Do we want to be like the United
Kingdom, like Canada, like Holland, like Sweden, like
Finland, like Japan? To be sure, each of the 19, out of a
world community of more than 160 states, has its strengths.
But each also has its fair share of weaknesses. Without be-
ing a duplicate of any of them we can still be developed.
We should be a developed country in our own mould.
4. Malaysia should not be developed only in the economic
sense. It must be a nation that is fully developed along
all the dimensions: economically, politically, socially,
spiritually, psychologically and culturally. We must be
fully developed in terms of national unity and social
cohesion, in terms of our economy, in terms of social jus-
tice, political stability, system of government, quality of
life, social and spiritual values, national pride and confi-
dence.
Malaysia As A Fully Developed Country - One Definition
______________________________________________________
5. By the year 2020, Malaysia can be a united nation, with
a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong moral and
ethical values, living in a society that is democratic, lib-
eral and tolerant, caring, economically just and equitable,
progressive and prosperous, and in full possession of an
economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
6. There can be no fully developed Malaysia until we have
finally overcome the nine central strategic challenges that
have confronted us from the moment of our birth as an inde-
pendent nation.
7. The first of these is the challenges of establishing a
united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared
destiny. This must be a nation at peace with itself, terri-
torially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and
full and fair partnership, made up of one 'Bangsa Malaysia'
with political loyalty and dedication to the nation.
8. The second is the challenge of creating a
psychologically liberated, secure, and developed Malaysian
Society with faith and confidence in itself, justifiably
proud of what it is, of what it has accomplished, robust
enough to face all manner of adversity. This Malaysian So-
ciety must be distinguished by the pursuit of excellence,
fully aware of all its potentials, psychologically
subservient to none, and respected by the peoples of other
nations.
9. The third challenge we have always faced is that of
fostering and developing a mature democratic society,
practising a form of mature consensual, community-oriented
Malaysian democracy that can be a model for many developing
countries.
10. The fourth is the challenge of establishing a fully
moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in re-
ligious and spiritual values and imbued with the highest of
ethical standards.
11. The fifth challenge that we have always faced is the
challenge of establishing a matured liberal and tolerant so-
ciety in which Malaysians of all colours and creeds are free
to practise and profess their customs, cultures and reli-
gious beliefs and yet feeling that they belong to one na-
tion.
12. The sixth is the challenge of establishing a scientific
and progressive society, a society that is innovative and
forward-looking, one that is not only a consumer of technol-
ogy but also a contributor to the scientific and technolog-
ical civilisation of the future.
13. The seventh challenge is the challenge of establishing
a fully caring society and a caring culture, a social system
in which society will come before self, in which the welfare
of the people will revolve not around the state or the indi-
vidual but around a strong and resilient family system.
14. The eighth is the challenge of ensuring an economically
just society. This is a society in which there is a fair
and equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation, in
which there is full partnership in economic progress. Such
a society cannot be in place so long as there is the iden-
tification of race with economic function, and the identifi-
cation of economic backwardness with race.
15. The ninth challenge is the challenge of establishing a
prosperous society, with an economy that is fully compet-
itive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
16. We have already come a long way towards the fulfilment
of these objectives. The nine central objectives listed
need not be our order of priorities over the next three dec-
ades. Most obviously, the priorities of any moment in time
must meet the specific circumstances of that moment in time.
17. But it would be surprising if the first strategic chal-
lenge which I have mentioned -- the establishment of a
united Malaysian nation -- is not likely to be the most fun-
damental, the most basic.
18. Since much of what I will say this morning will concen-
trate on economic development, let me stress yet again that
the comprehensive development towards the developed society
that we want -- however each of us may wish to define it --
cannot mean material and economic advancement only. Far
from it. Economic development must not become the be-all
and the end-all of our national endeavours.
19. Since this Council must concentrate on the issues of
economic development and economic social justice, which for
this nation must go hand in hand for the foreseeable future,
let me expand on the perception of the central strategic
challenges with regard to these two vital objectives.
20. At this point it is well to define in greater detail
the objective of establishing an economically just society.
21. Of the two prongs of the NEP no one is against the
eradication of absolute poverty -- regardless of race, and
irrespective of geographical location. All Malaysians,
whether they live in the rural or the urban areas, whether
they are in the south, north, east or west, must be moved
above the line of absolute poverty.
22. This nation must be able to provide enough food on the
table so that not a solitary Malaysian is subjected to the
travesty of gross under-nourishment. We must provide enough
by way of essential shelter, access to health facilities,
and all the basic essentials. A developed Malaysia must
have a wide and vigorous middle class and must provide full
opportunities for those in the bottom third to climb their
way out of the pit of relative poverty.
23. The second prong, that of removing the identification
of race with major economic function is also acceptable ex-
cept that somehow it is thought possible to achieve this
without any shuffling of position. If we want to build an
equitable society than we must accept some affirmative
action. This will mean that in all the major and important
sectors of employment, there should be a good mix of the
ethnic groups that make up the Malaysian nation. By legiti-
mate means we must ensure a fair balance with regard to the
professions and all the major categories of employment.
Certainly we must be as interested in quality and merit.
But we must ensure the healthy development of a viable and
robust Bumiputera commercial and industrial community.
24. A developed Malaysia should not have a society in which
economic backwardness is identified with race. This does
not imply individual income equality, a situation in which
all Malaysians will have the same income. This is an impos-
sibility because by sheer dint of our own individual effort,
our own individual upbringing and our individual prefer-
ences, we will all have different economic worth, and will
be financially rewarded differently. An equality of indi-
vidual income as propounded by socialists and communists is
not only not possible, it is not desirable and is a formula
for disaster.
25. But I do believe that the narrowing of the ethnic in-
come gap, through the legitimate provision of opportunities,
through a closer parity of social services and
infrastructure, through the development of the appropriate
economic cultures and through full human resource develop-
ment, is both necessary and desirable. We must aspire by
the year 2020 to reach a stage where no-one can say that a
particular ethnic group is inherently economically backward
and another is economically inherently advanced. Such a
situation is what we must work for -- efficiently, effec-
tively, with fairness and with dedication.
26. "A full partnership in economic progress" cannot mean
full partnership in poverty. It must mean a fair balance
with regard to the participation and contribution of all our
ethnic groups -- including the Bumiputeras of Sabah and
Sarawak -- in the high-growth, modern sectors of our econ-
omy. It must mean a fair distribution with regard to the
control, management and ownership of the modern economy.
27. In order to achieve this economically just society, we
must escalate dramatically our programmes for national human
resource development. There is a need to ensure the cre-
ation of an economically resilient and fully competitive
Bumiputera community so as to be at par with the Non-
Bumiputera community. There is need for a mental revolution
and a cultural transformation. Much of the work of pulling
ourselves up by our boot-straps must be done ourselves. In
working for the correction of the economic imbalances, there
has to be the fullest emphasis on making the needed advances
at speed and with the most productive results -- at the low-
est possible economic and societal cost.
28. With regard to the establishment of a prosperous soci-
ety, we can set many aspirational goals. I believe that we
should set the realistic (as opposed to aspirational) target
of almost doubling our real gross domestic product every ten
years between 1990 and 2020 AD. If we do this, our GDP
should be about eight times larger by the year 2020 than it
was in 1990. Our GDP in 1990 was 115 billion Ringgit. Our
GDP in 2020 should therefore be about 920 billion Ringgit in
real (1990 Ringgit) terms.
29. This rapid growth will require that we grow by an aver-
age of about 7 per cent (in real terms) annually over the
next 30 years. Admittedly this is on optimistic projection
but we should set our sights high if we are to motivate our-
selves into striving hard.
30. We must guard against 'growth fixation', the danger of
pushing for growth figures oblivious to the needed commit-
ment to ensure stability, to keep inflation low, to guaran-
tee sustainability, to develop our quality of life and
standard of living, and the achievement of our other social
objectives. It will be a difficult task, with many peaks
and low points. But I believe that this can be done.
31. In the 1960s, we grew by an annual average of 5.1 per
cent; in the 1970s, the first decade of the NEP, Malaysia
grew by an average of 7.8 per cent; in the 1980s, because of
the recession years, we grew by an annual average of 5.9 per
cent.
32. If we take the last thirty years, our GDP rose annually
in real terms by an average of 6.3 per cent. If we take the
last twenty years, we grew by an annual average of 6.9 per
cent. What is needed is an additional 0.1 per cent growth.
Surely if we all pull together God willing this 0.1% can be
achieved.
33. If we do succeed, and assuming roughly a 2.5 per cent
annual rate of population growth, by the year 2020,
Malaysians will be four times richer (in real terms) than
they were in 1990. That is the measure of the prosperous
society we wish and hopefully we can achieve.
34. The second leg of our economic objective should be to
secure the establishment of a competitive economy. Such an
economy must be able to sustain itself over the longer term,
must be dynamic, robust and resilient. It must mean, among
other things:
- A diversified and balanced economy with a mature and
widely based industrial sector, a modern and mature ag-
riculture sector and an efficient and productive and an
equally mature services sector;
- an economy that is quick on its feet, able to quickly
adapt to changing patterns of supply, demand and compe-
tition;
- an economy that is technologically proficient, fully
able to adapt, innovate and invent, that is increas-
ingly technology - intensive, moving in the direction
of higher and higher levels of technology;
- an economy that has strong and cohesive industrial
linkages throughout the system;
- an economy driven by brain-power, skills and diligence
in possession of a wealth of information, with the
knowledge of what to do and how to do it;
- an economy with high and escalating productivity with
regard to every factor of production;
- an entrepreneurial economy that is self-reliant,
outward-looking and enterprising;
- an economy sustained by an exemplary work ethic, qual-
ity consciousness and the quest for excellence;
- an economy characterised by low inflation and a low
cost of living;
- an economy that is subjected to the full discipline and
rigour of market forces.
35. Most of us in this present Council will not be there on
the morning of January 1, 2020. Not many, I think. The
great bulk of the work that must be done to ensure a fully
developed country called Malaysia a generation from now will
obviously be done by the leaders who follow us, by our chil-
dren and grand-children. But we should make sure that we
have done our duty in guiding them with regard to what we
should work to become. And let us lay the secure founda-
tions that they must build upon.
Some Key Public Sector Economic Policies For The Forseeable
____________________________________________________________
Future
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36. Since the early 1980s, we have stressed that this coun-
try will rely on the private sector as the primary engine of
economic growth. In a way we were ahead of the rest of the
world, even the developed countries in entrusting economic
growth to the private sector.
37. In the early years, our fledgling private sector could
not fully respond to the challenge that was issued. Then
came the unpredictable and difficult recession and slowdown
years. However in the last three years the private sector
has bloomed and responded. The policy is now bearing fruit.
The outcome: in 1988, we grew in real terms by 8.9 per cent;
in 1989, by 8.8 per cent; in 1990, by 9.4 per cent without
expansionary budgetting by the Government. Even the tiger
economies of North East Asia have not done so well.
38. No nation can afford to abandon a winning formula. And
this nation will not. For the forseeable future, Malaysia
will continue to drive the private sector, to rely on it as
the primary engine of growth.
39. In the meantime the Government will continue to down-
size of its role in the field of economic production and
business. The State cannot of course retreat totally from
the economic life of Malaysia. It will not abdicate its re-
sponsibility for overseeing and providing the legal and reg-
ulatory framework for rapid economic and social development.
40. The Government will be pro-active to ensure healthy
fiscal and monetary management and the smooth functioning of
the Malaysian economy. It will escalate the development of
the necessary physical infrastructure and the most conducive
business environment -- consistent with its other social
priorities. And where absolutely neccessary the Government
will not be so completly bound by its commitment to with-
drawal from the economic role, that it will not intervene.
It will play its role judiciously and actively.
41. The process of de-regulation will continue. There can
be no doubt that regulations are an essential part of the
governance of society, of which the economy is a part. A
state without laws and regulations is a state flirting with
anarchy. Without order, there can be little business and no
development. What is not required is over regulation al-
though it may not be easy to decide when the Government is
over regulating.
42. Wisdom lies of course in the ability to distinguish be-
tween those laws and regulations which are productive of our
societal objectives and those that are not; and it lies in
making the right judgements with regard to the trade-offs.
Thus Governments will be neither foolish nor irresponsible,
and will cater to the needs of the wider society as well as
the requirements of rapid growth and a competitive, robust
and resilient economy. It will be guided by the knowledge
that the freeing of enterprise too -- not only laws and reg-
ulations, and state intervention -- can contribute to the
achievement of the wider social objectives. In this light
and given the fact that there are clear areas of unproduc-
tive regulation which need to be phased out, you can expect
the process of productive de-regulation to continue. The
recent move of Bank Negara to de-regulate the BLR regime is
an example in point.
43. Privatisation will continue to be an important corner-
stone of our national development and national efficiency
strategy. This policy is not founded on ideological belief.
It is aimed specifically at enhancing competitiveness, effi-
ciency and productivity in the economy, at reducing the ad-
ministrative and financial burdens on the Government and at
expediting the attainment of national distributional goals.
44. In implementing our privatisation policy, the Govern-
ment is fully aware of the need to protect public interest,
to ensure that the poor are provided access to essential
services, to guarantee that quality services are provided at
minimum cost, to avoid unproductive monopolistic practices
and to ensure the welfare of workers.
45. There will be problems. No endeavour comes without a
price tag. But it is clear enough that this policy has thus
far generated positive results and we can expect its imple-
mentation to be accelerated in the future. With the com-
pletion of the Privatisation Master Plan Study, I believe
that many of the bottlenecks and rigidities that obstruct
the progress of the needed privatisation will be removed,
thus accelerating its smooth implementation.
46. There will be in the years ahead an Accelerated
Industrialisation Drive, a drive that is not based on a fas-
cination with industry but on the simple truth that if we
want to develop rapidly -- in a situation where the devel-
oped economies will be moving out of industrialisation into
a post-industrial stage -- this is the way to go. If we are
to industrialise rapidly, we will need to capitalise on our
national strengths and forcefully tackle our weaknesses.
47. In pursuit of this policy, the Government will need to
deal with the problem of a narrow manufacturing base. In
1988, 63 per cent of total Malaysian manufactured exports
came from the electrical and electronic and textile indus-
tries. Electronics alone accounted for 50 per cent of total
manufactured exports. We must diversify.
48. Despite the most rapid development in the free trade
zones insignificant demand has been generated for local
intermediate products. We will have to deal with the prob-
lem of weak industrial linkages.
49. There is inadequate development of indigenous technol-
ogy. There is too little value-added, too much simple as-
sembly and production. There is also a need to counter
rising production costs brought about by rising costs of
labour, raw materials and overheads by improving efficiency
and productivity. There is a serious shortage of skilled
manpower. All these and many more issues will need to be
addressed.
50. Small and medium scale industries have an important
role to play in generating employment opportunities, in
strengthening industrial linkages, in penetrating markets
and generating export earnings. They have a crucial role as
a spawning ground for the birth of tomorrow's entrepreneurs.
51. The Government will devise appropriate assistance
schemes and will seek to raise the level of management ex-
pertise, technological know-how and skills of the employees
in this very important and in many ways neglected sector of
our economy.
52. The SMIs will be one of the primary foundations for our
future industrial thrust. The Government is fully committed
to its healthiest development.
53. Just as we must diversify the products we export so
must we diversify the markets we export to. Malaysian
exporters must look also at the non-traditional markets. It
will require new knowledge, new networks, new contacts and
new approaches towards dealing with unfamiliar laws, rules
and regulation. It will be uncomfortable but it would be a
mistake to consider that it is not worth the discomfort to
deal with these markets. Alone they may be small but cu-
mulatively the market of the developing Asian, African and
Latin America countries are big. If the developed countries
find it worth while to export to these markets then it must
be worth while for us also. The Government will help but
the private sector must play their part. Reliance on
export-led growth is still the way to rapid growth.
54. Entry into the world market pits our companies against
all comers and subjects them to the full force of interna-
tional competition. This is a challange we must accept not
simply because the domestic market is too small but because
in the long run it will actually enrich our domestic market
and reduce our dependence on export.
55. We must persist with export-led growth despite the
global slowdown, despite the rise of protectionism, trade
blocs and managed trade. When the going is tougher, we must
not turn inward. We simply have no choice but to be more
lean, more resourceful, more productive and generally more
competitive, more able to take on the world.
56. The liberalisation of the Malaysian economy has had
beneficial result and contributed towards a more dynamic
growth.
57. Obviously, liberalisation must be undertaken
responsibly and in stages so as not to create economic un-
certainty and impose excessive structural adjustment costs.
We should take into the fullest consideration Malaysia's ca-
pacity to undertake liberalisation. We should not dismiss
the infant industry argument, but we should not bow to ille-
gitimate pressure.
58. At the same time, productive liberalisation ensures
that our private sector will be less reliant on artificial
profits and on protection, which benefits some producers at
the expense of consumers and other producers. Infants must
grow up. They must grow up to be sturdy and strong. And
this cannot be done if they are over-protected.
59. For reasons that are obvious, the Government will con-
tinue to foster the inflow of foreign investment. This is
essential for Malaysia's Accelerated Industrialisation
Drive. Again, we will not abandon a winning strategy. But
we will fine-tune it to ensure that measures are in place to
ensure that Malaysia maximises the net benefit from the in-
flow of foreign investment.
60. In the past, the domestic private sector has largely
failed to meet the targets set in successive Malaysia Plans.
Apparently domestic investors feel that the Government has
not devoted enough effort to the fostering of domestic in-
vestment as we have devoted to those from overseas. This is
not completely true but we will redress the situation as we
get better feed back.
61. Small and medium scale enterprises must be assisted to
grow bigger. Surplus savings and domestic capital must be
more productively channeled into investments. Entrepreneurs
must be spawned. Where necessary, technological and train-
ing help must be extended; and infrastructural support must
be given.
62. It is worthwhile to stress again that the development
that we need cannot take place without the infrastructural
underpinning. We must keep one step ahead of demand and
need. In the recent Budget, we clearly stated what we will
do in the shorter term. The Sixth Malaysia Plan will make
clear what we will do in the medium term while the second
outline perspective Plan will indicate the direction over
the long term. The Government is fully aware of the
infrastructure bottlenecks and of the need for massive in-
vestments in the years to come. We will not let growth to
be retarded by excessive congestion and investment indi-
gestion, as has happened in many countries.
63. In our drive to move vigorously ahead nothing is more
important then the development of human resources.
64. From the experience in the last two decades of all the
economic miracles of the countries that have been poor in
terms of "natural resources", it is blindingly clear that
the most important resource of any nation must be the tal-
ents, skills, creativity and will of its people. What we
have between our ears, at our elbow and in our heart is much
more important than what we have below our feet and around
us. Our people is our ultimate resource. Without a doubt,
in the 1990s and beyond, Malaysia must give the fullest em-
phasis possible to the development of this ultimate re-
source.
65. Malaysia has one of the best educational systems in the
Third World. But for the journey that we must make over our
second generation, new standards have to be set and new re-
sults achieved.
66. We cannot but aspire to the highest standards with re-
gard to the skills of our people, to their devotion to know-
how and knowledge upgrading and self-improvement, to their
language competence, to their work attitudes and discipline,
to their managerial abilities, to their achievement moti-
vation, their attitude towards excellence and to the foster-
ing of the entrepreneurial spirit.
67. We cannot afford to neglect the importance of
entrepreneurship and entrepreneural development, which goes,
of course beyond training and education. We must ensure the
correct mix with regard to professionals, sub-professionals,
craftsmen and artisans, and the correct balance with regard
to those with competence in science and technology, the arts
and social sciences.
68. In the development of human resources we cannot afford
to neglect half the population i.e. the Bumiputeras. If
they are not brought into the mainstream, if their poten-
tials are not fully developed, if they are allowed to be a
millstone around the national neck, then our progress is go-
ing to be retarded by that much. No nation can achieve full
progress with only half its human resources harnessed. What
may be considered a burden now can, with the correct atti-
tude and management be the force that lightens our burden
and hasten our progress. The Bumiputeras must play their
part fully in the achievement of the national goal.
69. Inflation is the bane of all economic planners. Fortu-
nately except during the first oil shock when inflation went
up to 17%, Malaysia has managed to keep inflation low. We
must continue to keep it low. The Government the business
sector, and the people must be committed to keeping it low.
The only real way to combat inflation is to live within
one's means. If we cannot afford we just don't buy. In
Malaysia this is possible for we can produce practically all
we need in terms of food, shelter and clothing. When re-
cently we had a recession, life was bearable because we were
able to buy our needs at roughly the same price i.e. we had
practically no inflation. Now that we have more money, de-
mand pull is slowly forcing prices up. So although we may
be more prosperous now, although we may be financially
wealthier now, but in terms of purchasing power we are not
as well-off as we should be.
70. The public must understand what causes inflation and
must be disciplined enough to combat it. In some countries
when inflation rates go up to thousands of per cent per
year, Governments have been changed again and again without
inflation being contained. The reason is that the people
are not disciplined and prepared to restrain themselves. No
Government can put a stop to inflation unless the people are
prepared to accept the discomfort of austerity.
71. In the fight against inflation nothing is more effec-
tive than education and discipline among the people.
72. In an interdependent trading world, the exchange rate
plays a vital role. Too cheap a currency will increase im-
port bills and debt payment but it will make exports compet-
itive. But the full benefit of a low exchange rate on
export can be negated by the cost of imported material which
go into the exported products. A high currency value will
"enrich" our people, particularly in terms of buying im-
ported luxuries but our exports will not be competitive and
the economy will eventually be adversely affected.
73. Clearly the management of the exchange rate is of ex-
treme importance to the progress of our nation. There is
only a limited ability to manipulate. In the final analysis
it is how we balance our trade that will determine how our
currency is valued. Malaysia must learn to be competitive
through higher productivity rather than through manipulating
exchange rates. Again the people must understand their
role, particularly with regard to productivity.
74. In a world of high technology Malaysia cannot afford to
lag behind. We cannot be in the front line of modern tech-
nology but we must always try to catch up at least in those
fields where we may have certain advantages. We have al-
ready adopted a National Plan of Action for Industrial Tech-
nology Development. This is the easy part. We must now
proceed expeditiously to the enormously difficult task of
implementation.
75. The Government will certainly provide the necessary
commitment and leadership to this national endeavour. The
institutional and support infrastructure will be put in
place to ensure rapid, realistic, focussed and market-driven
development of our technological capabilities. But let us
never forget that technology is not for the laboratory but
the factory floor and the market. The private sector and
our people must respond. Far too often the results of re-
search are ignoured in favour of the tried and tested money-
spinners. It has been said that the secret of Japan's
success is its skill in applying research results to
marketable products. If we don't do this we are going to be
left behind whatever may be the level of our technology.
76. While increasing our industrial manufacturing sector,
Malaysia must make sure that our agriculture and services
sector will not be neglected. We must advance. We must
strive for efficiency, modernity and competitiveness. These
should be the key guiding principles of our national policy
towards agriculture, tourism and the fullest development of
the entire services sector.
77. Nor can we afford to neglect the rural sector of our
economy and society. In the years ahead, we must work for a
second rural development transformation, restructuring the
villages so as to be compatible with both agriculture and
modern industry. Less and less farmers should produce more
and more food, thus releasing manpower for an industrial so-
ciety.
78. While doing all these we must also ensure that our val-
uable natural resources are not wasted. Our land must re-
main productive and fertile, our atmosphere clear and clean,
our water unpolluted, our forest resources capable of regen-
eration, able to yield the needs of our national develop-
ment. The beauty of our land must not be desecrated -- for
its own sake and for our economic advancement.
79. In the information age that we are living in the
Malaysian society must be information rich. It can be no
accident that there is today no wealthy, developed country
that is information-poor and no information-rich country
that is poor and undeveloped.
80. There was a time when land was the most fundamental ba-
sis of prosperity and wealth. Then came the second wave,
the age of industrialisation. Smokestacks rose where the
fields were once cultivated. Now, increasingly, knowledge
will not only be the basis of power but also prosperity.
Again we must keep up. Already Malaysians are among the
biggest users of computers in the region. Computer literacy
is a must if we want to progress and develop. No effort
must be spared in the creation of an information rich
Malaysian society.
81. In international relations, the emphasis should be less
on politics and ideology but more on economic imperatives.
Small though we may be we must strive to influence the
course of international trade. To grow we have to export.
Our domestic market is far too small. It is importent to us
that free trade is maintained. The trend towards the forma-
tion of trading blocs will damage our progress and we must
oppose it. We must therefore play our part and not
passively accept the dictates of those powerful nations who
may not even notice what their decision have done to us.
82. A country without adequate economic defence capabili-
ties and the ability to marshall influence and create coali-
tions in the international economic arena is an economically
defenceless nation and an economically powerless state.
This Malaysia cannot afford to be.
83. There are many other policies that must be in place if
we are to make the 1990s the most economically productive
decade in our history. Let me end by mentioning just one
more: the necessity of making Malaysia Incorporated a flour-
ishing reality.
84. Let me stress not all collaboration between our public
and private sector is justifiable or productive. In many
areas there must be a long arm's length approach. But there
can be no doubt that a productive partnership will take us a
long way towards our aspirations.
What The Private Sector Must Contribute
_______________________________________
85. I have outlined what I think are the key economic poli-
cies that should be in place to accelerate our drive towards
prosperity and a competitive economy. Let me now stress the
role that the private sector must play.
86. This nation cannot rely on the private sector as the
primary engine of growth if our private sector is ineffi-
cient and lethargic. You must be strong and dynamic, robust
and self-reliant, competent and honest.
87. Malaysia cannot deregulate if bankers eventually behave
like banksters, if the freedom afforded to enterprise be-
comes merely licence to exploit without any sense of social
responsibility. Our companies must have a high sense of
corporate duty. Our struggle to ensure social justice -- to
uplift the position and competitiveness of the Bumiputeras
and to achieve the other social objectives -- must be your
struggle too.
88. Privatisation must not proceed if its objectives are
defeated by those who think only of personal profit without
social responsibility . The Accelerated Industrialisation
Drive and the attempt to rapidly develop our small and me-
dium scale industries must be driven by the enterprise of
our entrepreneurs. They must be prepared to think longer-
term, to venture forth into the competitive world markets.
The attraction of foreign investment should not be the re-
sponsibility of the Government alone. The private sector
too must engage the foreign investor in mutually beneficial
partnership and joint ventures for this will help him to in-
tegrate more fully into the Malaysian economy. And the re-
sponsibility of domestic investors must be greater than that
of their foreign counter-parts because Malaysia is our coun-
try, not theirs. We can ask ourselves to make a sacrifice
for our country but we cannot expect foreigners to do it for
us.
89. In the development of our human resources, our private
sector has the most important of roles to play. Train your
own manpower. Equip them for their changing tasks. Look
after their interests. Upgrade their skills. Manage them
well. And reward them for their contribution.
90. There is obviously a lot for everyone to do. Unfortu-
nately there is no simple one shot formula for developing a
nation. Many, many things must be done by many, many peo-
ple. And they must be done as correctly as possible. We
must be prepared to be self-critical and to be willing to
make corrections. But God Willing we can succeed.
Conclusion
__________
91. This is the agenda before us in this Council and before
the nation. I hope you will discuss this agenda and
criticise or improve on it. Whether we achieve perfection
or consensus on this agenda is not absolutely important. No
formula is perfect. But the least perfect and the least
productive is the perfect agenda unimplemented.
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