Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : DAR-ES-SALAAM
Tarikh/Date : 23/10/91
Tajuk/Title : DINNER GIVEN BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR
ALI HASSAN MWINYI PRESIDENT OF THE
UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA
Your Excellency President Ali Hassan Mwinyi,
Madame Sitti Mwinyi,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am indeed very happy to be here in Dar-es-Salaam to-
day. May I express my sincere appreciation to you, Mr Pres-
ident, for the warm welcome and generous hospitality
accorded to my wife and I and to the members of my deleg-
ation. I recall with fond memories my first visit to
Tanzania during the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Harare in
1986. The overnight stay, in Dar-es-Salaam, however was too
brief to enable me to get a good glimpse of your country and
its people. Time also did not permit us to hold discussions
on matters of mutual interest.
2. My present visit to Tanzania provides me with that
opportunity to have a closer look at the rapid development
taking place in Tanzania today and to savour some of the
natural beauties and splendour of this fascinating country.
The discussions that we have had this afternoon encompassing
every facet of bilateral relations, and the similar percep-
tions that we shared on regional and international issues of
mutual interest certainly help to enhance our relationship
and marks a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation
between our two countries.
3. Although formal diplomatic relations between Malaysia
and Tanzania have been established only recently, bilateral
contacts have been increasing steadily. As members of the
South, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Commonwealth, our
two countries have worked closely together to ensure the
success of our shared vision, belief and ideals. Bilateral
trade, though negligible, provides a basis for expanded co-
operation. Given our new resolve for an enhanced relation-
ship, our mutual commitment to South-South Cooperation, and
the abundance of natural resources at our disposal, I am
confident that our two countries would be able to work more
closely in the promotion of greater bilateral economic
interaction.
Mr President
4. May I also commend the determined efforts undertaken by
the Government of Tanzania under Your Excellency's able
leadership to liberalise its economy and promote social ser-
vices for the benefit of your people. These encouraging de-
velopments offer potential for concrete bilateral
cooperation between our two countries. While Malaysia could
perhaps participate in Tanzania's developments in certain
areas in which we have the necessary expertise and technol-
ogy, such as in the rubber and oleo-chemical industry,
Tanzania which has some of the world's most impressive na-
tural tourist attractions provide attractive investment op-
portunities in tourism.
Mr President
5. The last decade of this century has witnessed rapid
changes in the international political scene not least of
which is the emergence of the so-called New World Order.
While some of these developments offer greater hopes and op-
portunities, particularly to the developing countries of the
South, some have negative impact on us. As members of the
South, we continue to face problems in one way or another.
Disparity in development, crippling debt burden, environ-
mental degradation, and falling prices of primary commod-
ities, are among our perennial problems. However as we
grapple with these problems, we must not lose sight of the
opportunities available before us. We recognise the impor-
tance of pragmatic economic programmes and constructive en-
gagement with the North in areas of economics, trade and
investments. We hope the North will respond to these over-
tures with similar constructive attitude. The Final Report
of the South Commission launched in Caracas recently pro-
vided a valuable blueprint on economic development of the
South.
6. The successful launching of the Report owes much to
Tanzania. We are indeed grateful to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere,
the illustrious son of Tanzania whose name is synonymous
with South-South Cooperation for his invaluable contribution
and wise counsel in the work of the South Commission that
led to the successful conclusion of its work.
7. As the central message of the report envisages the
South must move and find its own way in the world, it is now
left to us to take advantage of the potentials for cooper-
ation.
8. I also believe that the fundamental changes currently
underway in the African continent are the results in part at
least of the spirit of the Report. Rhetoric has now given
way to pragmatic resolve. Countries of the region are im-
plementing realistic, albeit tough adjustment programmes to
transform their economies and in the true South-South spirit
of interdependence look to one another for cooperation and
support.
9. In South Africa, the abominable system of apartheid is
crumbling and the movement for multi-party democracy is
gaining momentum. The positive developments in South Africa
have moved the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
which concluded its session in Harare yesterday to endorse
the resolution adopted by the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers
Meeting on South Africa in New Delhi recently on the immedi-
ate lifting of people-to-people contacts. You and I, Mr.
President are indeed privileged to have been present at the
meeting in Harare during the last couple of days and be wit-
ness to this historic decision by the Commonwealth.
10. We welcome this development and look forward to the day
in the not too distant future when South Africa will be able
to join its other fellow sovereign African states to chart
its destiny as an independent state and to engage in con-
structive cooperation not only with its African neighbours
but also with other countries in other regions of the world.
11. This encouraging development would not have come about
that soon if not for the resolute backing by Tanzania and
others to the oppressed majority of South Africa. As a
Front-Line State, Tanzania has played an active role in sup-
port of liberation movements in Southern Africa and for the
cause of freedom, justice and economic well-being of the
peoples of this continent. For this Tanzania deserves all
praise.
Mr President
12. It is crucial for countries of the South to work to-
wards the strengthening of South-South Cooperation. It is
as a manifestation of our belief in such cooperation that
Malaysia is willing to share its experiences and whatever
expertise it has with Tanzania.
13. Notwithstanding our limited resources Malaysia has ex-
tended assistance to several developing countries in Africa.
We have trained several Tanzanian officials under our Tech-
nical Cooperation Programme. We have also made contribution
to Frontline States under the Africa Fund. We would con-
tinue to assist our African friends in whatever way we can
in the future. At the very least we can learn from each
other. As long as there is the political will, our
endeavour to achieve a better life for our peoples in the
true spirit of South-South Cooperation could be realised.
Mr President
14. The signing of the Agreement on Economic, Technical,
Scientific and Cultural Cooperation by our Ministers is
therefore timely. It establishes the framework for enhanced
Malaysia-Tanzania relations.
15. Before I conclude, I would like to take this opportu-
nity once more to thank Your Excellency and Madame Sitti
Mwinyi for the kind and gracious hospitality accorded to my
wife and I as well as to the Malaysian delegation. Our
programme for the next two days will provide us with the
opportunity to visit the charming island of Zanzibar and the
world-renowned Ngorongoro Park. I look forward to visiting
these important regions of Tanzania and to get to know
Tanzania and its friendly people.
Ladies and Gentlemen
16. May I now propose a toast to His Excellency the
President and Madame Sitti Mwinyi, and to the everlasting
friendship and cooperation between Malaysia and Tanzania.
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