Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Tarikh/Date : 15/07/96
Tajuk/Title : THE OCCASION OF THE OFFICIAL VISIT
TO THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
1. I am delighted to be here in Bishkek, your
country's beautiful capital, and am grateful to Your
Excellency and to the Government of the Kyrgyz
Republic for the very warm welcome that has been
extended to us. This is the first visit to this
region for most members of my delegation but we
already feel very welcome and at home.
2. I have been looking forward with much
anticipation to this visit to continue the important
discussions we initiated when Your Excellency
visited Kuala Lumpur last July. During these coming
discussions I propose to explore ways to further
deepen our mutual understanding of each other. I
also look forward to seeing and learning more of the
Kyrgyz Republic during this visit.
3. At the outset, allow me to reaffirm the strong
desire on Malaysia's part to strengthen our
bilateral relations with the Kyrgyz Republic. There
is a strong mutual desire, I note, to get beyond
symbolic ties and go on to realise tangible co-
operation in the political, economic, trade and
investment fields. Our two countries, located as
they are, one in the Southeast and the other in the
Central Asian regions, are well placed strategically
to act as a conduit for channelling the goods and
services of both our countries to other countries in
our respective regions.
4. Apart from this regional dimension, I believe
that there is tremendous scope for direct bilateral
co-operation in mining, tourism, infrastructure
development, agriculture and the establishment of
economic zones. Malaysia's private sector, which
has some prominent representatives in my delegation,
has quite considerable expertise and experience in
these areas. It is my hope that this visit and
future exchanges of visits at various levels will
enable the private sectors of both our countries to
undertake projects and joint ventures for our mutual
benefit.
5. Certain key areas for co-operation between the
public sector in our respective countries have also
been identified. In this regard I am pleased that
there have been contacts between Malaysia's Economic
Planning Unit and the Kyrgyz Ministry of Economy. I
trust that these consultations are useful in laying
the groundwork for the realisation of some
partnerships and exchanges of experience and
knowledge in public service and administration.
6. It is clear to me that there is good potential
for bilateral co-operation especially in the context
of the transformation to a market-type economy in
the Kyrgyz Republic and other countries in the
Central Asian region. In Malaysia we have found
privatisation to be a great help in achieving our
development goals especially in the face of the
limited resources available to government. This may
also apply here. While the prospects are excellent
there are however challenges in integrating our two
regions' economies with those of the advanced
industrial nations and the global economic system.
The process of integrating with the international
system will be difficult but it is essential. This
endeavour will be made considerably less difficult
with regular and close consultations between our
countries and regions. We hope the leading
industrial powers and multilateral lending
institutions will be sensitive to these
difficulties.
7. Malaysia is ready to cooperate with the Kyrgyz
Republic in the process of integrating with the
global economic system. Malaysia is sensitive to
the aspirations of countries like the Kyrgyz
Republic which are making the difficult
transformation to a market type economy. Malaysia's
own experience may be of use to the process.
8. May I, once again, reiterate my sincere
appreciation and gratitude for your warm welcome and
generous hospitality.
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