Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE RENAISSANCE HOTEL,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 02/03/2000
Tajuk/Title : THE KANKEIREN ASEAN
MANAGEMENT SEMINAR
"HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN THE 21ST CENTURY:
CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF
ASEAN AND STRENGTHENING ASEAN / JAPAN RELATIONSHIPS"
To our friends from Japan and our good neighbours from
Asean countries, who have come to attend the Kankeiren
Asean Management Seminar, I bid you Selamat Datang!
Welcome to Malaysia!
2. It is most heartening that the Kansai Economic
Federation (Kankeiren) has chosen to celebrate the 20th
Anniversary of the Kankeiren Asean Management Seminar
in two Asean countries, Thailand and Malaysia. We in
Malaysia are especially pleased that Kankeiren has
opted for Kuala Lumpur as the venue for the
Commemorative Symposium with communication satellite
link up with Bangkok and Osaka.
3. This technological achievement is truly a sign of
the times. And the times are all too clear -- a new
year, a new century, a new millennium. Even though
Osaka is one hour ahead of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok is
one hour behind us -- you see how Kuala Lumpur is
always agreeable to taking the middle road, to playing
the role as the balance in matters large or small.
Indeed, modern marvels of technology sometimes make our
time differences irrelevant. We meet here and
communicate across borders with Bangkok and Osaka in
real time.
4. On behalf of Malaysians and our Asean neighbours,
I wish to congratulate Kankeiren for having had the
foresight as early as 20 years ago to inaugurate the
first Kankeiren Asean Management seminar in 1980. It's
good indeed to see that Kansai people have the same
vision as do Malaysians!
5. It is clear that for the past 20 years of Asean's
33 years of existence, Kankeiren and its research
organisation, the Pacific Research Exchange Center or
PREX have conducted annual seminars focusing on a very
essential ingredient for national development. I am
referring to the critical area of human resources
development.
6. For the past 20 years, PREX has organised human
resources development seminars for hundreds of
trainees from the Asean countries. As Asean expanded
from five to six, and then from seven to nine and
eventually 10 members, PREX accordingly increased the
intake to accommodate the new members. Not only were
management seminars held in Osaka, they were also
organised in individual ASEAN countries so that more
locals could benefit from the training programmes --
all funded by PREX.
7. Over the past two decades, national PREX Alumni
Associations have emerged in the Asean region providing
a good network among themselves and with PREX in the
Kansai region of Japan. Here in Malaysia, the PREX
Alumni has nearly 130 members.
8. While it is true that Asean countries have
benefited greatly from PREX's programmes, it is also
commendable that the management seminars and other
human resources development programmes are held in
Osaka and other countries throughout the world, for
example in Russia, China, Central Asia, and Eastern
Europe and Africa. It speaks well of Japan that
Kankeiren has been imparting management skills and
assisting the developing economies in their transition
from centrally-planned to market economies. To date,
PREX has trained approximately 1,400 persons in Japan
from 53 countries and organised numerous training
programmes outside Japan involving about 3,300
participants. I heartily congratulate you on this
notable achievement.
9. It has become clear as we enter the new century
that, with globalisation and the information technology
revolution underway, emerging economies have to meet
the great need for capacity building in terms of human
resources. The challenge of K-Economy (Knowledge
Economy), driven overwhelmingly by information and
technical know-how, confronting the Malaysian and other
Asean economies must be met head-on if we are to remain
competitive. Only with K-Economy in place can these
countries enhance their capability for value-added
productivity. Therefore, not only will it be necessary
to provide training for top management, it will also be
imperative to fill the huge gap in the availability of
mid-level and lower level knowledge-skilled personnel.
It is only when we succeed in systematically upgrading
the quality of our labour can we attain higher economic
productivity. Kankeiren and PREX can indeed play a
positive role in helping transform the Asean economies
into knowledge-propelled economies.
10. Along with the Japanese Government's Official
Development Assistance (ODA), the Japanese private
sector has also had a long experience of involvement in
the development of the Asean economies. As is well-
known, trade and investments by Japanese companies in
Asean countries have increased enormously since Asean
was established 33 years ago. Still for the regional
emerging economies, there is a great need for Japan to
open its doors wider to absorb more products from
Southeast Asia. As Asia's leading economy, we look to
Japan to assume a natural leading role by facilitating
our access to its market. It is understandable that in
the last decade of economic downturn Japan was unable
to be an engine of growth for the regional economies by
increasing imports from Asean. However, we hope that
with its economy demonstrating concrete signs of
recovery, Japanese companies will assist the Southeast
Asian manufacturers by increasing imports into the
Japanese market.
11. For developing economies looking to Japan (like
Malaysia with its Look East Policy), the role of the
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan's
industrialisation process has been exemplary as well as
legendary. Although many Japanese SMEs have already
come to Southeast Asia, we feel that many more are
still needed to assist the budding SMEs in Malaysia,
Thailand, Vietnam and other ASEAN countries to enhance
their capacity building through skills training and
technology transfer. While PREX has conducted training
programmes for SMEs, Kankeiren with a membership of
about 850 major corporations and organisations in the
Kansai region of Japan could encourage more of the
Japanese SMEs to assist those in Southeast Asia by
setting up joint ventures with Asean partners. These
are critical areas where Japan can strengthen
relationships with Asean countries.
12. With a full day's programme ahead, including a
Panel Discussion between three cities, I am confident
that you will all have a fruitful Commemorative
Symposium. Congratulations once again to Kankeiren on
the 20th Anniversary of its Management Seminar for
Asean.
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