Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : SERI PERDANA, PUTRAJAYA
Tarikh/Date : 24-04-2001
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL DINNER IN HONOUR OF
HIS EXCELLENCY DR. THAKSIN
SHINAWATRA PRIME MINISTER
OF THAILAND
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
It gives me great pleasure to welcome Your
Excellency and distinguished members of your delegation
to Malaysia. Your visit is indeed special as it is your
first to Malaysia and your first visit abroad in your
new capacity as the Prime Minister of Thailand. May I
once again offer my sincere congratulations on your
unprecedented election victory. I am confident that
your visit will consolidate and enhance the already
close and special relations between our two
neighbouring countries. We in Malaysia are very happy
indeed to welcome you.
2. Your visit is indeed timely as we are both faced
with the political and economic uncertainties affecting
the region. This afternoon, we had a thorough exchange
of views on the subjects and policy options that could
be pursued to resuscitate our economic resilience and
set it on a firm and sustainable recovery path. The
economic slowdown in the U.S. and Japan is expected to
impact adversely on our growth and exports. It is
therefore a matter of growing urgency to explore new
measures to accelerate our bilateral cooperation,
particularly in the area of finance, trade and
investment, to ensure we are sufficiently protected
from the full impact of this economic slowdown.
3. The relationship between our two countries remains
warm and trouble-free. Problems do arise from time to
time but we have managed to solve them amicably through
our own ingenuity and good-will as good and responsible
neighbours, fully realising that our interests are
often intertwined. With strict adherence to good
neighbourliness, our ties have remained close and will
no doubt move even closer. In the past, threats and
challenges have been successfully neutralised by the
desire of both sides to work together. This
willingness to share and cooperate had made it possible
to reverse what could have developed into a potential
source of irritations and convert them into cooperation
for the long-term benefits to our peoples. In this
regard, it would be an added feather in our cap, if we
could facilitate and expedite the implementation of the
Trans-Thai Malaysia Gas Pipeline Project. Landing the
gas in South Thailand will provide that less-developed
region and people with an increase in job opportunities
and businesses, particularly small and medium scale
businesses for the small people.
4. We have lately been facing difficult times
together due largely to interference in the governance
and management of our countries by so-called concerned
foreigners. We have dealt with the assault on our
sovereignty in different ways. As neighbours we should
exchange information and views on the management of
economic and financial turmoil so we can learn from
each other and ensure better recovery next time.
Despite all these bilateral trade recorded a 28.3 per
cent increase to reach 6.3 billion U.S. Dollars in the
year 2000 compared to 1999 and today Thailand is the
sixth largest trading partner of Malaysia. It is
equally heartening to observe that over 50 companies
with Malaysian interest are currently operating in
Thailand, embracing a wide range of sectors.
Similarly, Thai investment in Malaysia is also showing
encouraging growth.
5. Although we had made impressive strides to shore
up bilateral trade and investment, more concrete
measures would have to be done to tap the full
potential of the business opportunities available in
our respective country. In this regard, I am
encouraged by the convening of the Malaysia-Thai
business opportunity seminar in Bangkok early this
year, which was attended, I was told, by approximately
600 Malaysian and Thai businessmen. This is a positive
step to strengthen private sector collaboration between
our two countries. I remain hopeful we can achieve a
more constructive and mutually rewarding cooperation if
our two private sectors were to focus on the numerous
opportunities available in our countries. I hope our
private sector collaboration would develop fully into
an ASEAN-wide phenomenon to enhance intra-ASEAN trade
and reap maximum benefits from AFTA. I am encouraged
to see so many businessmen in Your Excellency's
delegation and I hope they will explore the
opportunities I have mentioned. Together we can lessen
the impact of economic downturns elsewhere.
6. As neighbours sharing a common border, the need to
understand one another becomes more real and urgent. I
recognise that the Malaysia-Thai Association and its
counterpart in Bangkok have contributed meaningfully
towards this objective. But to complement their
efforts, we should now initiate and encourage more
exchanges of visits and direct interaction between our
Government officials and our Ministers. We must fully
back the efforts of the private sectors.
7. ASEAN is an important sector of Malaysia's foreign
affairs and receives the highest priority. We are
committed to the pursuit of our common objectives,
including to the ASEAN regional economic cooperation
programmes. I have included this important point in
order to reassure Your Excellency that Malaysia will
not renege on its commitment to liberalise and open our
markets as required under AFTA. Yes, it is true that
we have sought to defer temporarily the inclusion of
CBU and CKD automotive parts in the AFTA scheme, but
the deferment is merely to allow our domestic national
car industry, adversely affected by the 1997 regional
financial and economic crisis, to undertake necessary
restructuring exercise to remain competitive in the
post-AFTA ASEAN. Many non-ASEAN countries are hoping
to enter the markets of our countries through the back
door. We must not allow this to happen as it will
lessen the benefits of AFTA to us. AFTA actually
provides us with the opportunity to enlarge our
industrial and commercial capacities and we must not
let the opportunities be wasted and lost to us.
9. We had a meaningful discussion this afternoon
covering a broad spectrum of issues involving our two
countries and the region. This is useful in helping us
to formulate appropriate responses and measures to
address these outstanding problems. I do hope that you
found your visit to Malaysia, despite its brevity, both
fulfilling and rewarding. I look forward to meeting
you again and collaborating with you on issues of
mutual interests.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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