Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR.
MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE PALACE OF THE GOLDEN HORSES
HOTEL SUNGAI BESI, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 16/06/2000
Tajuk/Title : THE MILLENNIUM LEADERS' SUMMIT
I would like to extend to each and everyone of
you, gathered here this morning, a very warm welcome
and "Selamat Datang" to Kuala Lumpur and in particular,
to the Millennium Leaders' Summit.
2. I am indeed very proud and honoured to be here
today for such an auspicious event. I take this
opportunity to congratulate the Joint Meetings Industry
Council and the International Congress and Convention
Association for bringing together leaders of the
international meetings industry from around the world
to our garden city -- Kuala Lumpur. We hope our
capital's conducive environment will make your stay
here enjoyable, invigorate you and provide a catalyst
to your creativity in your deliberations to formulate
new strategies in facing the key challenges of the
industry.
As industry leaders, most of you may be aware of the
growing popularity of Malaysia as an attractive tourist
destination in Asia. In addition, Malaysia also
continues to be one of the most sought after convention
and exhibition destinations in this part of the world.
As the Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and
Exhibitions (MICE) industry experiences positive growth
worldwide, Asia is becoming increasingly popular and
enjoys a good share of the market. With the increase
in the MICE traffic to this region, Malaysia is
positioning itself to gain from this opportunity by
offering an attractive range of convention services and
the necessary infrastructure. In 1999, there were a
total of 1,404 hotel establishments in Malaysia,
supplying a total of 109,413 rooms. Many of these
hotels have adequate meeting facilities to cater for
MICE activities.
Malaysia has a lot of experience in the hosting of big
international events and this has been clearly
demonstrated through the successful conclusion of the
1998 Commonwealth Games and the 1998 APEC Summit
Meeting. This year we are hosting the Islamic
Conference of Foreign Ministers, which will involve 56
countries. With such a proven track record, Malaysia
is fully capable of hosting big international
conferences and exhibitions. In this regard I am proud
that Malaysia has successfully won several biddings to
host big international conventions in the next few
years, including, to name a few :-
* The 89th World Dental Congress in 2001;
* The 50th PATA Conference in 2001;
* The World Orchid Conference in 2002; and
* The 53rd International Real Estate Federation
Congress in 2002.
Currently Malaysia is also bidding to host the Asian
Games in 2006, the Federation of International
Gynaecological and Obstetrical (FIGO) World Congress
also in 2006.
During the height of the recent economic recession in
1998, the convention, exhibition and event sub-sector
of the Malaysian tourism industry continued to register
positive growth of 19.9 per cent compared to 1997,
despite the decline in the nation's overall tourist
arrivals. At that time many organisers were sceptical
on whether there would be adequate participation if
there were conventions or events organised during the
period of economic crisis. They have been proven wrong
because of the resilience of the Malaysian meetings
industry and because of the continued strong attraction
of the country.
6. Now that Malaysia has made a convincing economic
recovery with a rebound in economic activities,
prospects for a strong upturn in the meetings industry
would even be much brighter. Factors which have a
positive impact on the development of this industry
include a stable political situation, strong economic
growth and attractive investment opportunities which
would draw foreign investors and businessmen to the
country. All these are evident and present in
Malaysia. Contrary to dire predictions, the Malaysian
economy has managed an impressive V-shaped recovery, at
a speed no one would have predicted during the height
of the economic crisis.
7. The recent economic downturn has shown us that,
with few exceptions, the progress of the various
sectors in the economy is tied closely to and move in
tandem with the national, regional and global economic
condition. When countries around the region, and in
many other parts of the world, recently experienced
declining economic growth, the tourism industry was
also adversely affected and therefore was unable to
make a significant contribution to overcome the
country's economic woes. Nonetheless, tourism has been
and remains as a major source of foreign exchange
earnings for Malaysia and many other countries in the
world.
8. According to the World Tourism Organisation, 635
million people traveled to a foreign country in 1998,
spending some 439 billion U.S. Dollar. International
tourism receipts combined with passenger transport
currently total more than 504 billion U.S. Dollar --
making tourism the world's number one export earner,
ahead of automotive products, chemicals, petroleum and
food. In 1999 travel and tourism generated, directly
and indirectly, across the global economy, 11 per cent
of Gross Domestic Product (GDP); 200 million jobs;
eight per cent of total employment; and 5.5 million new
jobs per year until 2010. In short, travel and tourism
is big business. Nevertheless, like many other
industries, tourism development requires planning and
investment, as well as supportive Government policies.
The Government must ensure the country is safe for
tourists, with minimum regulation for visitors and be
politically stable. The necessary support facilities
such as renowned international hotels, transportation,
financial and banking systems and other essential
conveniences for the making of successful conferences
and exhibitions are mostly provided by the private
sector.
9. The tourism industry has been fully supported by
the Malaysian Government, in recognition of its
important contribution to the country's economy. Even
during the economic crisis, the budget allocation for
tourism promotion was not affected by the Government's
austerity measures. Marketing or promoting
international awareness of a country involves a
continuous effort from the Government, the tourist
industry's people and the media.
10. As a sub-sector or segment of the tourism
industry, the meetings industry also has a significant
role in the economy. I understand that the meetings,
incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry is
relatively young but its value on a worldwide basis has
already been estimated at 280 billion U.S. Dollar. It
is a rapidly growing industry which provides
significant economic and employment benefits to the
city and country that hosts the meeting. Meetings or
conferences often promise new trade potential and they
are often accompanied by exhibitions. In the
competition for international tourists, meetings or
conference travelers are amongst the most sought after
target groups. The conference delegate spends three
times as much as the tourist. Meetings represent one of
the primary communication vehicles and constitute a
critical component of an organisation's or an
industry's success. It provides and facilitates
gatherings of professionals and of people in a similar
trade or with common interests, for exchange of
information and views. The face-to-face or
interpersonal relations enable networking, the building
of trust, the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge
and the fostering of friendly relations between peoples
of different nationalities and cultures.
11. Currently, the tourism sector, including the
meetings industry, has reached a high level of
sophistication. Now high technology has found its way
into the industry. In the new millennium, advances in
telecommunications and information technology have
provided the `virtual meetings' in cyber space as an
alternative to the personal or face-to-face meeting.
Meetings in the form of desktop video-conferencing or a
virtual seminar through the Internet are now possible.
The Internet could be used to research meeting sites or
to collect registration from attendees. Many companies
or organisations recognise the communications potential
that might be attained through `virtual meetings' or
`virtual seminars'.
12. While the benefits and advantages of a high tech
virtual meeting are obvious and while such meetings are
appropriate in some circumstances, the human element or
personal touch possible in face-to-face meetings cannot
be discarded altogether. Even in a knowledge-based
economy of the near future, the human resource or
people remain as one of the most important or key
factors. Interacting with people is an art, that needs
to be nurtured for the betterment of society and
enrichment of the nation, through the promotion of
understanding between people of different nationalities
and exchanges of information for mutual benefit.
13. The five major issues facing the global meetings,
incentives, conferences and exhibitions markets, namely
globalisation versus regionalisation, industry
recognition, education, e-commerce strategies as well
as standards and best practices, which you have chosen
as the key items in your Summit agenda, are among the
main issues also of concern to other industries and
national Governments.
14. I had spoken on several occassions and in various
domestic and international forum about globalisation,
liberalisation, as well as other issues listed in your
summit agenda.
15. Globalisation is now a fact of life. It became a
term of reference only a decade ago but it has rapidly
crept into our consciousness and proceeded to claim our
attention across the whole spectrum of issues in our
lives. Globalisation is the term used to describe the
profound and rapid impact that events in one part of
the world has on the social, political and economic
institutions and the lives of people in countries
elsewhere in the world. Globalisation happens when
barriers to interactions across borders fall.
One clear and obviously bad encounter with
globalisation was the recent Asian financial crisis.
With capital rapidly crossing and re-crossing borders
bringing along exchange rate instability, countries
lost money, business was destabilised and masses of
people became poor. The so-called contagion effect
brought down even the economies with very sound
finance. Countries situated thousands of miles away
were not spared. The world's economy went into a
tailspin. About the only people profiting from this
particular manifestation of globalisation were the
currency manipulators. Other than this group of very,
very rich people, no one really gained. Millions of
people lost their jobs and billions of dollars of hard-
earned wealth vanished.
17. The question that begs to be asked is whether
globalisation must result in periodical and massive
economic turmoil for the whole world. Cannot there be
a way to design and regulate globalisation so as to
benefit the poor while not impoverishing the rich?
Indeed cannot the rich further enrich themselves
without causing economic turmoil and impoverishing the
countries targeted?
18. We think that globalisation is not inherently
destructive. What is destructive is the abuses which
globalisation make possible.
19. For a long time currencies were traded and capital
flowed across borders. But the destabilisation was
minimal. Hedging make it possible to reduce the risks
and the cost of exchange rate fluctuation.
20. But the hedge funds discovered that they could
actually influence the fluctuations in exchange rates.
Since they have access to very large capital through
leveraging they can push down or push up the values of
currencies simply by going through the motion of
selling or buying the particular currency.
21. While speculation is a form of betting with all
the risk involved, manipulation of exchange rates by
huge hedge funds through their own buying and selling
involve hardly any risk. A return of 30 per cent is
promised to the very rich investors in the hedge funds.
22. The reason for the economic and financial turmoil
is entirely due to manipulations by the hedge funds.
They have made use of the free unregulated markets to
make money for themselves alone. In the process real
businesses, including the tourist business were
strangled. Large amounts of money were lost through no
fault of the businesses.
23. If we are prepared to recognise the culprits then
we can prevent economic turmoil by regulating their
activities. But apparently the world is not yet ready
to name the culprits and to act against them. Until
then we have to apply home-grown remedies in order to
provide a stable financial and economic environment for
business to be done. In the case of Malaysia, we have
fixed the exchange rate and people doing business in
Malaysia can be sure that their budgets can be quite
precise and free from the need to make adjustments
every now and again. They will not be burdened by the
cost of hedging. As you may have noticed the cost of
visiting Malaysia is not only low but they are
predictable.
24. Before I end, I would like to wish you a fruitful
conference and a pleasant stay in Malaysia. After the
Summit ends, you will be able to see more of the
country through the post-conference tours that have
been arranged for you. I hope you will take this
opportunity to see for yourselves the real Malaysia
which promotional brochures and audio-visual shows
cannot do justice to. Certainly the real Malaysia is
not quite what you expected when you landed at Kuala
Lumpur International Airport.
25. Once again I wish you "Selamat Datang" to Malaysia
and a successful conference. On that note, I hereby
officially declare the Millennium Leaders' Summit open.
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