Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : LANGKAWI, KEDAH
Tarikh/Date : 27/07/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE MALAYSIA-THAILAND TECHNOLOGY
AND BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP DIALOGUE
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
I would like to welcome all of you to this
Malaysia-Thailand Technology and Business Partnership
Dialogue in Langkawi. It is my special privilege to
welcome the Honourable Prime Minister of Thailand,
Police Lt. Col. Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra. I would also
like to congratulate the joint organisers for
successfully planning this Dialogue.
2. Thailand and Malaysia have played significant
roles in the development of modern day regionalism.
This has not been by accident but rather the historical
evolution of proximity and neighbourliness. Indeed
long before the Western propagated concept of nation-
states, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Malay states of
the Peninsular had established a long tradition of
association and closeness. Many princes of the Malay
states were adopted by the King of Siam and educated in
Bangkok. But at times there were wars between the
Malay states and the Kingdom of Siam. These wars
however have not made the Malays and the Thais eternal
enemies as has often happened with many other
countries. To this day people of Siamese origin live
in Malaysia as full citizens and Malays in Thailand do
likewise. We war no more. As independent nations we
now work closely together as neighbours and as members
of ASEAN.
3. But our bilateral relations is much more
substantial. Our security forces have worked closely
together to keep the border areas safe for travel and
for business.
4. Our countries were doing very well economically
and with the end of the Cold War we had looked forward
to even higher growth and prosperity. Unfortunately
there had been far too many attempts to change the way
things are done in the belief that the world would be a
better and richer place to live in. We have the
borderless world, globalisation, the World Trade
Organisation, the free deregulated market and a whole
lot of new systems, which we have to accept or suffer
denunciation by the controlled media of the west and
even trade sanctions.
5. Change, any change is disruptive and
destabilising. Nothing really works well immediately
after a change. There will be bugs to get rid of. But
more importantly the unscrupulous and the crooks will
find opportunities for a rip-off, for taking advantage
of the ignorant and the weak undergoing change. That
is what is happening now. The rogue currency traders
destroyed the wealth of the emerging economies of East
Asia, devaluing their currencies, raping their stock
exchange, bankrupting and distressing businesses and
banks, throwing millions out of work, swooping in to
seize the weakened corporations and banks and
eventually to control indebted nations.
6. Merges and acquisitions, friendly and hostile,
have resulted in the emergence of giant corporations
and banks and filthy monopolies or oligopolies. And
these huge corporations and banks fiddled with their
accounts with the aid of the big accounting firms to
show profits, which do not exist. And the directors
and managers stole the money belonging to these giant
corporations even as they demand that the developing
countries stop their corruption and become transparent
to them.
7. Far from being a place to raise capital, stock
markets are regarded as casinos where money, big money,
can be made even from the shares of bankrupt companies,
companies which have never made profits, which have
practically no assets to back the high value of their
shares. And then the bubble would burst and the little
investors would perish while the rich manipulators of
the share market would run away with their ill-gotten
gains or get bailed out by their governments. Poor
countries and poor people get poorer and poorer, unless
they sell their bodies and their souls to the crooks
who had created the bubble and helped it to burst.
8. Still the demand is on that the world standardise
all business practices that trade, domestic and
international, be based on rules, rules invented by the
rich to suit them, to enrich them. Failure to comply
with the rules would attract direct and indirect
punitive action calculated to undermine the economy and
destabilise the country.
9. Even strong economies have found these changes and
unethical activities so disruptive and damaging that
they are unable to recover. But still they are forced
to change. What is important is not the well being of
peoples and nations. What are important are the new
system, free trade, deregulation and the adoption of
new regulations etc. The objective is not important.
The prescribed means must be adopted even if it kills.
10. As if all these are not enough, the injustices in
the treatment of certain people are allowed to fester
until bitterness, anger and frustration lead to acts of
terror. Instead of tackling the causes of terrorism,
the oppression and the injustice, counter terror
methods were applied. Massive retaliation as was used
to deal with recalcitrant indigenous people when their
land was being taken away, their forests destroyed,
their animal herds decimated; massive retaliation has
now returned as an instrument of policy. With that the
world is further destabilised.
11. Economic recovery has become extremely difficult.
It may be necessary to return to our old and tried
ways, to the days when nations protect their economies
behind tax barriers. But the scenario and the mindset
of the world have changed so much that they have to be
taken into consideration in planning and executing a
strategy for recovery. In any case the weak economies
are so vulnerable that unless they consolidate their
meagre resources they will not survive and recover.
12. The ASEAN grouping is perhaps the most durable and
viable grouping of developing countries in the world.
We have not only stuck together through thick and thin
but we have actually enlarged our group. Today the
group has a population base of 500 million. They are
poor but they have the basic skills and organisation to
build their economies singly and together.
13. And now we have the growth triangle and bilateral
cooperation concept. Borders divide nations based on
ethnicity and geographical barriers. But today with
the ease of communication both physical and information-
wise and the acceptance of many universal values and
practices, the borders are not the barriers that they
were before. Yet borders still define important
differences and comparative advantages, which hold
numerous potentials and opportunities while at the same
time presenting obstacles to the full exploitation of
each other's resources.
14. The border between Thailand and Malaysia is almost
a classic example. Thailand has very low cost of
living while Malaysia is slightly higher. This does
not mean that Thailand or the Thais are poorer or that
Malaysians are richer. Malaysia's experience is that
cost can be kept low without sacrificing living
standards. Thus although Malaysia's per capita is
equal to 4,000 US Dollars, the purchasing power of that
4,000 US Dollars is almost as good as 9,000 US Dollars
in the U.S. I am sure that although Thailand's per
capita is lower in US Dollar terms, it will buy much
more goods and services in Thailand than the same
number of US Dollar would buy in the USA or for that
matter, Malaysia. Certainly the purchasing power of
the Thais is not much lower than the Malaysians. And
this may enable Thailand to contribute to the lowering
of costs in Malaysia while Malaysia can help increase
the income and growth of the Thai economy.
15. There are the downside elements of course. An
influx of cheap Thai products can push Malaysian
products off the shelf and render Malaysian industries
non viable. Lower wages for Thai workers would cause
unemployment for Malaysian workers. The purchasing
power of Malaysians can push up prices and cause
inflation in Thailand. This would undermine the cost
advantage of Thailand.
16. The European Union experience is a good guide for
cross-border collaboration. The introduction of the
Euro has caused a rise in the cost of living in the
poorer members of the union. Wages have gone up to
compensate for this and as a result the whole of Europe
has become a high cost area. Cheap workers cannot be
obtained from the European low cost countries any more.
They now come from Africa and Asia, bringing with them
a number of social problems.
17. If there is going to be greater integration
between Malaysia and Thailand it has to be very well
planned and carefully executed. It should initially
involve the border areas and a step-by-step approach
should be adopted. Sudden radical change must be
avoided.
18. In the designated border areas, the two countries'
comparative advantages should be identified and offered
to investors from both countries and to foreigners.
Care should be taken that there would be minimal damage
to the local businesses and the workers of both
countries. There will be some disruption but these
could be minimised.
19. It will need skill and a lot of patience.
Malaysia has had a lot of experience in the field of
integrating the economy.
20. During the British colonial period the Malay
states were independent entities, having their own
custom and tariff barriers apart from other
differences. The British persuaded four Malaysian
States to federate, thus creating a single customs
area. The other five states opted to remain outside
this federation and the principal custom area. As can
be imagined customs checks were everywhere and much
corruption and smuggling took place. Development was
hampered for a whole variety of reasons, not least from
lack of revenue collected.
21. But when Malaya achieved independence in 1957, the
states agreed to a customs union and most of the taxes
were collected by the Central Government and
redistributed in an equitable and fair manner. Later
when Sabah and Sarawak joined the federation to form
Malaysia, there was no difficulty integrating with the
states of the Peninsular. Some concessions are still
made to preserve state authority but most functions
have been integrated.
22. Today even the poorer states have enjoyed good
growth because funds from the Central Government are
channelled to them. The richer states do not complain
because the virtual removal of state borders creates a
much bigger single market, which in turn reduces, costs
all round. When there is a shortage of workers, the
poorer states are able to make up, and sites of
industries can take advantage of the lower cost in the
poorer states.
23. Clearly by sacrificing revenue allocation, the
rich states have gained and so have the poorer states.
24. The states have retained autonomy in some
government function without being totally independent.
It is not hard to imagine that a gradual but limited
integration in the border areas of Thailand and
Malaysia should achieve much of the same results.
25. The European Union is again a good guide.
Beginning as collaboration in the steel and coal
Industries, the European countries have gone on to the
formation of the European Economic Community, the
acceptance of a single currency and finally the union
of very distinctive European countries into the
European Union. It is not yet as unified as the United
States of America is unified, but gradually a single
entity and identity is emerging. Unified, it will
become a powerful state, able to supply practically all
its needs, becoming almost a world unto itself as the
United States is.
26. It has taken the Europeans more than half a
century to reach its present stage of integration.
They still have a long way to go. Obviously time and
patience are needed.
27. The Asean countries have formed AFTA with the
objective of integrating our economies. Like the
European Union it will take time to achieve this
limited objective, but eventually we can achieve much
of what the Europeans have achieved. Because we are
not as homogenous as the Europeans we must begin by
experimenting with limited integration. While we work
towards AFTA we should also experiment with greater
integration between neighbouring countries on a
bilateral scale. The cooperation between Thailand and
Malaysia in the border areas should show the way. If
it works, and it is likely to work if there is goodwill
and sympathetic consideration by all concerned, then
the area designated can be enlarged. Perhaps there can
be a degree of integration of the five southern
provinces of Thailand and the northern Malaysian states
of Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan.
28. But even while this is happening there can be
enhanced cooperation between Malaysia and Thailand over
and above those identified in AFTA. We already have
road and rail connections linking not only Kuala Lumpur
and Bangkok but also many places in between and beyond.
All along these land links there are facilities, which
can be made use of to enhance the distribution of goods
and services offered by both countries.
29. Not all of these things can be accepted or
implemented immediately. There are national interests
to be considered. And there may be other reasons,
which militates against the acceptance of these ideas.
Besides while it is easy to make a decision,
implementing it is not so easy. That is why leaders
talk about the need to cooperate but somehow there is
no cooperation and no progress. That is because at the
ground level the understanding and the spirit are not
there. Understanding is very important. While the
decision makers know what they mean and what they want,
the implementers may not. And when implementers do not
understand they cannot be expected to implement the
decision. It is therefore important that decision
makers, to a little extent, at least practise a hands-
on approach.
30. Over the next two days participants from our two
countries, Government as well as private sector will
discuss a wide area of bilateral cooperation. They
will hear all the arguments for and against the ideas
mooted. And they will be making some resolutions and
even decisions. No doubt what they resolve or decide
will be good for both countries, will help move forward
the cooperation between us. But unless they go back
and explain to the implementers, the bureaucracy, what
the decisions are all about and why they were made and
how important they are, there will be practically no
movement on the ground. We would have wasted our time.
31. But apart from the bureaucrats, the Government,
i.e. the cabinets will also have to decide. I assume
that the basic principles and the need for bilateral
cooperation have already been approved by the
Governments. There should therefore be no objections
by the Government. In any case the heads of the
Government are here in Langkawi. By their presence
they are giving tacit approval to the work to be done
to flesh out the principles. But Cabinets cannot be
overridden or overlooked even by heads of Government.
And Cabinets by their consent to this partnership
dialogue are in fact promoting cooperation.
32. There are other bilateral and trilateral border
arrangements, which have been identified by the ASEAN
countries. Some have made progress but the
contributions to ASEAN growth are not yet significant.
With this focus on bilateral cooperation between
Thailand and Malaysia, it is possible that our
cooperation can lay the grounds and provide the example
for the other cross-border growth areas.
33. It is important that we make a success of this
dialogue and the actions that will follow. Actions
speak better than a thousand resolutions. Even if we
act and implement a small percentage of the resolutions
and decisions, they will be very significant. So let
us put aside our suspicions of each other, seek areas
of agreements, decide and then go back to implement the
needed action. Within a given time frame we must
present a report on what we have done.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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