Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : SEOUL, KOREA
Tarikh/Date : 23-05-2002
Tajuk/Title : THE STATE BANQUET HOSTED BY HIS
EXCELLENCY MR KIM DAE-JUNG
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC
OF KOREA
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
On behalf of myself and members of my delegation,
I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the
very warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to
us since our arrival in Seoul. We are delighted to be
here and to see for ourselves the developments of this
beautiful city since our last visit in October 2000.
I also sincerely feel privileged to have had the
opportunity of personally meeting and discussing with
you various bilateral, regional and international
issues of mutual interest this morning. I believe that
such exchanges would foster better rapport and
understanding between our two countries.
2. Malaysia is committed to improving our cordial
ties with the Republic of Korea. In fact, bilateral
relations have grown steadily since the establishment
of diplomatic ties in 1960. On-going exchanges of
visits at the highest level further strengthened the
bonds of friendship between the Governments and the
peoples of Malaysia and the Republic of Korea. The
State Visit of the late King, His Majesty Sultan
Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah to your country last year
certainly brought much goodwill and enhanced bilateral
ties. At the same time, Malaysia will continue to
pursue cooperation in traditional areas such as trade,
investments and education, while endeavouring to
intensify collaboration in other sectors such as
development of human resources, culture, tourism and
information technology.
3. I am very pleased indeed that your country is
presently Malaysia's 8th largest global trading partner
and our 9th largest export market. However, Malaysia
hopes to diversify its exports to Republic of Korea to
include not only commodities but also manufactured
goods. As such, we would welcome more access for our
exports to the Korean market.
4. We also value investments from South Korea and
note that last year the Republic of Korea was the 6th
largest foreign investor in the Malaysian manufacturing
sector. During the 1996 to 2001 period, a total of 92
projects from South Korea with capital investments of
US$ 1.0 billion were approved. Like South Korea,
Malaysia too welcomes foreign direct investments to
promote the development of her manufacturing,
information technology and multimedia industries. We
acknowledge that South Korea has achieved much success
in the hi-tech and I.T. area and we hope to learn from
and collaborate with Korea. The continuing political
and economic stability of Malaysia, and to my
Government's commitment to providing a positive
business environment for all investors without doubt
makes Malaysia a most promising and suitable venue for
your investments.
5. In 1983, Malaysia expanded her `Look East Policy'
with Japan to include the Republic of Korea, noting
that the work ethics of the Korean people were values
we desired to emulate in order to attain economic
progress. Since then, 1,182 Malaysians have undergone
training in various programmes in the Republic of
Korea. Additionally, 500 students have pursued studies
at Korean institutions of higher learning under the
technical training programme. The `Look East Policy'
therefore is a very important component of our
relations with the Republic of Korea and these two
programmes have served very well in our efforts to
develop our human resources. We are grateful to the
Korean Government for the support and trust that Korea
would continue to accept more Malaysians in her
Universities and institutions of higher learning in the
future.
6. Over the years the Republic of Korea has become an
important partner for Malaysia in the Northeast Asian
Region. Both our countries have overcome the 1997
economic and financial crisis with policy measures that
were appropriate and suitable to our problems. Under
your able leadership, Korea is now on the road to
recovery based on sustainable growth and sound economic
policies. As we have learnt from that episode, all
countries in the East Asian region should work together
and reform the international financial architecture to
ensure that our economies can deal effectively with the
challenges of globalisation and the volatile financial
flows.
7. The close collaboration between our two countries
also flows into other regional spheres where we
actively interact and play major roles in important
forums such as ASEAN + 3, ARF and ASEM. It is most
heartening to note that the Republic of Korea has
placed much emphasis on her relationship with ASEAN
member countries. As such, the relations have
broadened and strengthened since the establishment of
Dialogue Partnership in 1991. The scope of cooperation
has widened and currently covers many spheres of
interest, including trade, investment, finance and
human resources development.
8. I would also like to congratulate you for your
effort in trying to promote reconciliation with the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea following your
successful Summit Meeting with Mr. Kim Jong-il in June
2000.
9. Globally, a major concern that remains with us in
the aftermath of the September 11 tragedy is the
challenge of terrorism. The fight against terrorism
while remaining a priority for all of us should not be
expanded to include other agendas. There is also an
urgent need to have a clear definition of terrorism.
This would enable us to distinguish between a genuine
freedom fighter and the one who is motivated by a
misplaced sense of injustice or grievance. In this
regard, Malaysia would like to again urge that an
international conference on terrorism be convened as
soon as possible. Malaysia hopes that the Republic of
Korea could lend its voice and support such a
conference so that the subject could be discussed
comprehensively to establish the best means to
eliminate and resolve this terrible menace.
10. I am greatly impressed with your country's
achievements and attribute them to your admirable
leadership. The kind and warm welcome extended to my
delegation and I by Your Excellency and Madam Lee will
always bring back fond memories of our stay in Korea.
Please accept our heartfelt thanks for the generous
hospitality and hard work that has made this visit a
success.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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