Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : PUTRA WORLD TRADE CENTRE,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 25/06/98
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE
SMI SHOWCASE
1. Firstly, let me thank the Ministry of International
Trade and Industry (MITI) for inviting me today to
officiate the opening of 'SMI Showcase 98 and APEC Cross
Border Linkages'. I am told that the 'APEC Cross
Border Linkages', organised back-to-back with the
Showcase, is an effort by MITI/SMIDEC to bring the
Showcase onto a higher plane of cooperation and
business linkages among APEC economies.
2. Although the economies of APEC countries are
varied and diverse, combined together, the APEC
economies can be a formidable force that has the
potential to mobilise the huge resources towards the
pursuit of a common objective, i.e. to help each other's
economy to develop and to share the benefits of that
development through world trade in real goods and
equally real services.
3. Within APEC, Malaysia will continue to work on
the three pillars of cooperation already endorsed by the
Summit namely, trade and investment liberalisation, trade
and investment facilitation, and economic and technical
cooperation. These are virtuous words but they must
be translated into virtuous deeds. All sides should
gain from the liberalisation, facilitation and
cooperation. If the gains are one-sided or, worse still,
if they cause damage to any partner, then the deeds
at least should be reexamined with a view to correcting
the manner of their implementation. If it is found
that the principles are wrong, then we should be
prepared to examine or even revise them. In the history
of the search for the ideal way, we have seen too many
mistakes to believe that the current ideas are perfect.
4. The world is seeing a resurgence of the belief that
big is beautiful. But it must be remembered that
everything that is big must begin by being small.
Indeed for many the small size will remain permanent.
And so even as giants are appearing in every field, in
industry there will always be a need for the
small and the medium in size.
5. It is said that big spells efficiency and
economies of scale. But there is an optimum size beyond
which efficiency declines and scale no longer results in
economies. Although today there are effectively only two
manufacturers of passenger aircrafts in the world, namely
Boeing and Airbus, both these giants depend more and more
on the supply of parts from small producers of child
parts, components and sub-assemblies. There are
literally millions of these parts and components, meaning
there will always be a need for small and medium
industries. Indeed such is the versatility and
efficiency of small and medium industries (SMI) that
there has to be not just one producer of a particular
part or component, but there will be a need for numerous
producers producing the same items separately and
sometimes in different ways. And when this happens,
competition will be stimulated and newer methods of
production for greater efficiency, precision and cost
will be developed.
6. As machine tools become more precise and easier to
operate new players from the less developed countries
will be able to get a piece of the action. APEC, which
we need to remind ourselves is about economic
cooperation, must play a role here, a role in developing
cross-border linkages so that the markets of APEC will
benefit all the member countries. The demand for the
products of small and medium scale industries must lead
to the setting up of some of these industries in the
less industrialised member countries. Capital,
management and technology should cross borders in
order to contribute towards the development of the less
developed countries through SMI. In the electronics,
telecommunication and information technology (I.T.)
industries, the scope for SMI is considerable.
Innovative new products needing venture capital must be
given adequate support, not only in terms of finances but
through vendor development and the judicious opening
of markets. Here the system of royalty payments and
copy rights needs to be reexamined. The high
royalty demanded and prolonged period of
proprietorship of new inventions inhibit the growth
of SMI. Since computer clones were permissable, other
products too should allow for similar cloning. This way
the benefit from the research in the electronic,
telecommunication and I.T. industries suitable for SMI
will be better spread to benefit the most number
of people.
7. In the competition between the SMIs of the
developed and the developing countries of the APEC,
each should be allowed to retain its competitive
advantage. Thus the low-cost labour of the less
developed countries should not be regarded as unfair
advantage. If it is, then capital, technology and
management know-how of the developed countries must also
be regarded as unfair advantage. If we are not
agreeable to retaining the competitive advantages of each
group, then we should do away with both. It is not fair
to expect one competitive advantage to be eliminated
while the other is retained. Experience has shown that
when one competitive advantage is combined with the
others, the greatest cost benefit will result. In the
long run everyone benefits, including the consumers
worldwide.
8. APEC which, let me again emphasise, is dedicated
to economic cooperation should adopt a smart partnership
approach in the SMI Cross Border Lingkage Programme. By
smart partnership we mean a partnership that benefits all
the partners. Each one must contribute something i.e.
land and location, labour, capital, technology,
management, raw materials etc and in return one must get
a fair share of the returns. In the process transfer of
technologies and skills must take place. Everyone should
be enriched due to the linkage and the transfers.
9. This ASMI Showcase and APEC Cross Border Linkage
Programme@ provides an ideal avenue for those involved to
meet, discuss and share experiences in developing SMIs in
the context of establishing smart business partnerships
and joint ventures. The networking and linkages
established will form the key towards strengthening
global economic linkage within APEC in the next
millennium, turning the region into one of the most
competitive market places in the world.
10. I would like to take this opportunity to wish all
participants success in this 1998 Showcase and "Cross
Border Linkage". I hope these events will add another
milestone in your respective business strategies in
terms of fostering new business linkages and joint
ventures.
11. I now have pleasure in declaring open the "SMI
Showcase '98 and APEC Cross Border Linkages" Conference.
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