Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : CAIRO, EGYPT
Tarikh/Date : 09/05/98
Tajuk/Title : THE BUSINESS FORUM HOSTED BY THE
FEDERATION OF EGYPTIAN
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
I would like to express my gratitude to the
Government and people of the Arab Republic of Egypt for
the very warm welcome and generous hospitality that have
been accorded to me and members of my delegation. I am
delighted to be in this historical country and honoured
to be given the opportunity to address this
distinguished audience. I believe that visits and
functions such as this would lend substance to our
bilateral relations, and further contribute to the
strengthening of our trade and economic relations.
2. It has been a long while since my last official
visit to Egypt in December 1984. Malaysia attaches
special importance to our relationship with Egypt since
before our independence and with the commencement of
official diplomatic relation this has been enhanced. In
fact, Egypt was the first Arab country to establish its
embassy in Kuala Lumpur in 1959.
3. However, I would say that economic and trade
activities between our two countries are still lacking
in substance. Only in the mid-1980s, was there an
increase in economic interaction between our two
countries. The official visit of H.E. Prime Minister
Dr. Kamal El Ganzoury to Malaysia in April 1997, and the
presence of H.E. President Hosni Mubarak at the G-15
Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November of last year, marked
a new era of increasing closeness in the relationship
between our two countries.
4. Ever since the end of the Cold War in which
ideologies were the source of conflicts, economic
activities and economic relations have taken centre
stage. It seems that the only meaningful relations
between nations must be based on how much we can profit
from our interaction with each other. Such is the quest
for profits that nations as political entities are now
considered as obsolescent and obstacles. Liberalisation
and globalisation are now the catchwords, the basis of a
new universal ideology or even religion. It is
heretical to say anything against these ideas. The
pursuit of maximum profit for those best endowed to do
so must never be frustrated.
5. We in Malaysia subscribe to the free market, to
liberalism in economic activities, to openness and cross
border trade and investment flows. But we also believe
that such economic principles should lead to mutual
benefit, to a win-win result, to fair, if not equitable
sharing. Unfortunately just as religions tend to be
reinterpreted in order to benefit those with vested
interests, the free market and economic liberalism too
have been interpreted and reinterpreted in order that
the powerful will be the principal beneficiaries.
6. You are aware of course of the economic and
financial turmoil in East Asia. Over one trillion
dollars of purchasing power has been lost, banks and
businesses of all kinds have been bankrupted, more than
30 million workers have been made unemployed, food and
medicine are less available and growth has either been
reversed or stunted. For all these the Governments of
the respective countries have been blamed. It seems
that they are not open, not transparent, they are
corrupt, given to crony-capitalism and all sorts of
misdemeanours. But these are the same Governments which
developed their economically poor agrarian countries
into economic tigers and dragons. They were the miracle
workers who converted their countries into modern
economic wonders, created so many jobs that their
workforce was fully employed and millions of foreign
workers had to be brought in, doubled their per capita
every few years, wiped out poverty, built modern
infrastructure etc. How is it that suddenly, in the
space of months, these Governments by the same people
with the same system and approach, could have destroyed
their economy and wrought economic and financial
turmoil?
7. I will not explain how this happened but suffice to
say that my country Malaysia has not been able to escape
the disaster which has befallen the East Asian
countries. Our money the Ringgit has been devalued by
about 50 percent and our stock market capitalisation has
lost more than 200 billion dollars. We are much poorer
now, having been pushed back to the level we were 25
years ago. Many have advised us to seek the help of the
International Monetary Fund. We have not done so, not
because we don't need the help, but because the
conditions for such help are too onerous. We would lose
our independence. We would rather live in poverty and
rebuild our economy.
8. Alhamdullillah, our people understand and they
value their independence. They have remained united and
are prepared to face hardships in order to restore our
country's economy. But we would need help, not in the
form of aid but in increased trade. For in trade lies
Malaysia's salvation. We are too small a country to be
able to grow independently. We need trading partners.
9. For some time now Malaysia has been promoting South-
South cooperation. It is not completely altruistic. We
see mutual benefit in South-South cooperation, even in
south-south trade. True we are all made up of small
countries, not physically always but certainly in terms
of our economies. But together we make up quite a
formidable economic power. We must be worthwhile to
trade and do business with because we know the developed
countries of the North have always traded with us, in
fact have gone to war with each other in order to gain
the right to trade with us. So it is only logical that
we in the South should seek to benefit from trading and
economic interaction between ourselves.
10. But for economic interaction between us to be made
possible we need to know more about each other and we
need regular transportation between our countries. In
this age of Information Technology, the Internet and the
versatile computers there really is no excuse for not
making information, including the minutest detail easily
available between trading nations. We know that Egypt
has developed a good system for collecting data and
feeding these into computers. So has Malaysia. We
need to link our two systems so that the business
communities of our two countries can gain access to them
and to make enquiries through E-mail.
11. If we know what are available in our countries for
export, what we normally import and what construction
projects are open for participation by foreign
companies, then we will be able to supply each other
with goods and services and we can compete for projects
in each other's country.
12. Communications between trading partners are
essential if we are to increase economic partnerships.
Apart from telecommunication, we need to have regular
sailing and flight between our countries. Shipping
should really be no great problem because Egypt is on
the way between Malaysia and Europe. We have very
frequent sailing between Malaysia and Europe and it
should not be difficult to drop and pick up cargoes at
Egyptian ports and Malaysian ports. The important thing
is to increase the volume of trade so as to make it
worthwhile for the ships to stop for the goods.
13. Malaysia Airlines now fly into Cairo via Lebanon.
The frequency will have to be built up, but travel
between Egypt and Malaysia should be quite easy for our
business people. Tourism in both directions should
increase over time.
14. Clearly there are adequate infrastructure for
trade and investments between both countries. So far we
have recorded US$233 million worth of trade between our
two countries in 1997. What is remarkable is the rapid
rate of growth lately. Egypt is the second biggest
African trading partner after South Africa. We believe
we can increase the volume appreciably in a short space
of time if our business people get together.
15. As far as investment is concerned, this is quite
small. Malaysia's Sime Darby is engaged in palm oil
refining in Egypt. Perodua, Malaysia's second
automobile producer is looking at the possibility of
producing cars in Egypt in collaboration with Proton,
Malaysia's national car. The Egyptian Government has
been very supportive. We do hope that we can produce
Malaysian/Egyptian cars here, and accompany the industry
with the production of parts and components which we can
export to each other and to third countries.
16. Sapura, the Malaysian telecommunication and
multimedia corporation is looking for contracts and
joint ventures, while Business Focus is looking at the
privatisation of Alexandria Shipyard.
17. Prior to the economic turmoil Malaysia was growing
at the rate of eight percent yearly for almost a decade.
That growth is not accidental. We made conditions
attractive for foreign direct investments in production
activities. As a result we were able to convert our
agricultural economy to an industrial economy. Per
capita income went up rapidly and was US$5,000 in 1997.
More importantly we acquired skills in management and
technology so that now our people are producing those
manufactured goods which were once imported. We are now
even able to export our Malaysian made manufactured
goods which are of world-class standard.
18. Our experience is of course not unique. Many of
Southeast Asia's countries which adopted this strategy
also succeeded in industrialisation. In fact Egypt too
has been able to industrialise quickly.
19. We see in industrialisation the solution to our
economic problem. Agriculture can bring about limited
wealth, but industry can generate unlimited wealth and
job opportunities. To succeed we must be willing to
learn from others. Malaysia is always keen to learn
from everyone. We think there is a lesson to be learnt
even from the least developed country. On the other
hand we have always been willing to reveal everything
that we have done for our industrialisation programme.
We believe in sharing, in smart partnership. We see in
Egypt a good partner, not just for exporting our goods
but for importing some of our needs, for learning about
your development experience, for cooperating in trade
and industry, for joint-venture in third countries.
There is much that we can do together, here in Egypt and
in Malaysia. Our business people must seriously look
into all the potentials.
20. I am sure the Egyptian Government will give every
support. Certainly the Malaysian Government will give
full support and encouragement.
21. Let me emphasise that Egyptian entrepreneurs and
investors should not look only at the domestic market in
Malaysia, but also the ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific
market. With the recent entry of Myanmar and Laos,
ASEAN is now a regional market with more than 491
million people with a combined G.D.P. of US$645 billion.
When the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) is fully
implemented by the year 2003, there will be a single
ASEAN market in which tariffs for ASEAN manufactured
products will not exceed five percent, and with the
majority attracting zero tariff. Thus, this huge and
dynamic regional market would, in itself, be attractive
to foreign investors. In this respect, I would like to
encourage the Egyptian private sector to consider
setting up their operations in Malaysia, and use
Malaysia as a springboard for production and
distribution of their products in the region.
22. For this, I have here today with me a number of
prominent members of the Malaysian business community.
They represent various sectors including transportation,
automotive, banking, property development, oil and gas,
steel, recreation, manufacturing of electrical products,
wood- based products, trading and services. I am
certain they are very keen to forge and strengthen
further bilateral trade, economic and commercial ties
between our two countries.
23. May I once again, on behalf of the Malaysian
delegation, reiterate my sincere appreciation and
gratitude for your warm welcome and generous
hospitality. I sincerely hope that more trade as well
as economic ventures between our two countries will
materialise.
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