Oleh/By  	:	DATO SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue	:	SERI PERDANA, PUTRAJAYA
Tarikh/Date	:	10-05-2001
Tajuk/Title 	:	THE OFFICIAL DINNER IN HONOUR OF 
			THE HONOURABLE DR. KENNY D. 
			ANTHONY THE PRIME MINISTER OF 
			ST. LUCIA
Versi 		:	ENGLISH
Penyampai	:  	PM

   It  gives  me great pleasure to welcome  to  Seri
   Perdana  this  evening the Hon. Prime Minister  of  St.
   Lucia  and  Mrs. Anthony and members of his delegation.
   Their visit to Malaysia is a historic milestone in  our
   relations  in that this is the first visit  ever  by  a
   Prime Minister of St. Lucia to Malaysia.
   
   2.    Prime  Minister, I recall my own  visits  to  St.
   Lucia  in  1991 and more recently in 1999 and the  warm
   and   generous  hospitality  I  received  during  those
   visits.  During my last visit we had talked  about  the
   possibility  of your visiting Malaysia. I am  delighted
   that  you have now given me the honour to host you  and
   your delegation in Malaysia.
        
   3.   Malaysia and St. Lucia share many things in common
   even though we are geographically far apart. Because of
   our  common historical background, we share  a  similar
   system  of  Government  as well as  similar  legal  and
   administrative structures. We are also both members  of
   the   Commonwealth  and  the  Group  of  Seventy-Seven.
   Equally  important,  we share a  common  aspiration  to
   develop  our  respective nations  in  order  to  secure
   peace,  prosperity and stability for our peoples  in  a
   rapidly changing and challenging world.
        
   4.     Malaysia   would  like  to  build   upon   these
   commonalities  to strengthen bilateral cooperation.  We
   can  and must find ways to assist each other and  learn
   from  each other. In this connection, we want  to  work
   with   St.  Lucia  to  develop  a  mutually  beneficial
   framework  for  bilateral cooperation.   Malaysia  also
   stands  ready  to  cooperate with St. Lucia  under  our
   Technical   Cooperation  Programme.  I   believe   that
   Malaysia can also offer the young people of St. Lucia a
   conducive,  friendly  and  competitive  environment  to
   pursue  their higher education at fees which  are  very
   low and competitive. I hope you will take back with you
   the  message  that  our universities, and  particularly
   those that specialise in information technology is open
   to  St. Lucians.  Studying in Malaysia will also expose
   St.  Lucia  to  the  dynamics  and  the  vast  economic
   potential of our East Asian region.
        
   5.    I  wish  to reiterate that we will also encourage
   Malaysian  businessmen  to consider  investing  in  St.
   Lucia's  tourism  industry.  The tourism  industry  has
   been  growing in Malaysia.  We had more than 10 million
   tourists  last year.  Perhaps our people can contribute
   to your tourist industry.
   
   6.     Malaysia  has  always  believed  in  seeking  to
   establish and enhance friendships across the globe.  As
   a   small   developing  country,  Malaysia   has   been
   particularly  keen to strengthen relations  with  other
   developing  countries. We think this  is  of  strategic
   importance. We have seen how small developing countries
   are  often  ignored and sidelined at  important  global
   conferences  and  negotiations on  trade,  finance  and
   other critical issues.  We are acutely aware of the raw
   deal you had in the banana trade.
   
   7.    For  this reason, Malaysia has been a  consistent
   advocate of closer South-South relations. We have  also
   been  very active in the Group of 77, the Group  of  15
   and  the Non-Aligned Movement. I hasten to add that  it
   is  not  our  desire  nor is it our intention  to  seek
   confrontation  with the developed countries.   What  we
   are   striving  to  achieve  is  a  fairer  system   of
   consultation and decision making in which the interests
   of both developing and developed countries can be given
   appropriate consideration.
        
   8.    Our  ability  to  forge an effective  South-South
   consensus  that  would enable developing  countries  to
   speak with one voice and coordinate our positions  will
   be particularly crucial in the context of the new round
   of  WTO negotiations. There is a real fear that the new
   round could severely disadvantage developing countries.
   We  are  being asked to remove the safety net  that  we
   have  put  in  place to protect our economies  with  no
   guarantees  that our interests will be protected,  that
   we will gain anything substantive in return.
        
   9.    It  is  my  hope  that Malaysia  and  St.  Lucia,
   together   with   other   developing   countries   will
   strengthen our own process of consultation and dialogue
   in  order that we may be better able to press  for  the
   interests of developing countries.
   
   10.  Once again, please allow me to say how honoured we
   are  to welcome you to Malaysia. We trust that you will
   have a pleasant and fruitful visit. On the basis of our
   discussion this morning, I think I can say that we have
   established a good framework for our future  relations.
   Please  convey  to  the people of St.  Lucia  the  warm
   greetings and good wishes of the people of Malaysia.
  

   Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri

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