Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	MOUSSA TRAORE, IN MALI 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	17/12/84 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	THE STATE BANQUET HOSTED 
			BY PRESIDENT 




Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, Your Excellency; Honourable
Ministers; Excellencies; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

I am indeed honoured and privileged to be here in Mali today. Mali is an
ancient land with a rich and historic culture and in its own time has
contributed much to Islamic civilisation and learning. Indeed the ancient
city of Timbuktu was once the repository of Islamic education and
art. Above and beyond this, I have long desired to meet with Your
Excellency and establish a personal link that would add to the already
strong bond of friendship that has evolved in the few short years since we
mutually decided to upgrade our bilateral relations to more meaningful
levels.

2. Since our arrival in Bamako, we have been greatly touched by the very
warm and brotherly welcome that Your Excellency personally and the
Government and people of Mali have extended to us. It is most evident that
you have spared no effort to make us feel at home. On behalf of my wife
and members of my delegation, I would like to thank Your Excellency and
the Government and people of Mali for this warm and sincere welcome and
hospitality.

3. I also would like to take this opportunity to convey to Your Excellency
and Madam Mariam, the best wishes and greetings of their Majesties the
King and Queen of Malaysia.

4. Excellency, although Malaysia and Mali are separated by vast distances
and even by culture, history and language, we nonetheless share a great
deal in common. Perhaps the most important of these shared bonds is our
common commitment to Islam and, springing from this, our commitment to
peace, justice and socio-economic well-being that gives dignity to man. We
are also both small developing countries and members of the Non-Aligned
Movement and the Organisation of Islamic Conference. I am confident that
these common bonds will propel our bilateral relations to new and even
greater heights in the years to come.

5. Excellency, I know it will not be an exaggeration to say that we are
now living in an era where socio-economic development has become our
topmost priority. Having won our political independence, we developing
countries have now dedicated ourselves to uplifting the socio-economic
well-being of our respective peoples so as to give substance to our
political independence. Nowhere is this trend more evident than on the
continent of Africa. However, it has not been an easy struggle. We have
had to cope with the divisive impact on our societies as a result of years
of colonial divide-and-rule policies. We have had to cope with an economic
system that geared our respective economies to provide the raw materials
to the industrialised nations often on exploitative terms; and we have had
to cope with the interference and extraneous influences which seek to
establish or re-establish forms of control over us. In addition these
problems have sometimes been compounded by some of the worst natural
calamities in history.

6. It was in these circumstances that Malaysia, Mali and other developing
countries called for a re-examination of the fundamental premises of the
prevailing international economic order within the context of the
North-South dialogue. Unfortunately this, like many other important Third
World initiatives, have suffered because of the lack of political will on
the part of the developed countries.

Therefore, even as we persuade the developed countries to commit
themselves to the New International Economic Order, we must find ways to
tackle the massive developmental problems we face on our own.


7. In this respect I am convinced that cooperative efforts amongst
ourselves to share experiences and pool resources within the context of
South-South cooperation offers the best hope. It was precisely with this
in mind that my Government launched the Malaysian Technical Cooperation
Programme or MTCP in 1980. Our objective was simply to promote meaningful
cooperation amongst developing countries to lessen our dependence on the
developed countries. Being a small country with no territorial ambitions
and no desire to manipulate or control the destiny of other nations, we
have sought only in a modest way, and to the limit that our own developing
economy could afford, to help encourage national resilience.


8. Under the MTCP, Malaysia has offered its hand in friendship and
cooperation to several countries including the Republic of Mali. I am
confident that the cooperation between our two countries will grow in the
years to come.

The Joint Commission on Economic and Technical Cooperation which we have
just concluded will act as a catalyst to achieve more meaningful
cooperation to our mutual benefit.


9. Excellency, my Government is deeply aware of the immense economic and
social difficulties that years of drought have inflicted upon your
country. We share your sense of despair at the set-back to your national
development efforts that this natural calamity has caused.

Nevertheless, I know that with your wise leadership and the determination
of your people, this set-back will only be but a temporary obstacle. For
our part I assure you that the Government and people of Malaysia will do
whatever it can to assist you. Though we ourselves are a small developing
nation, we possess some expertise in specific areas and some ability to
assist you in other areas. We ask that you do not consider our help as
assistance in the usual sense but rather that you consider it as a small
token of our desire to share with you the fruits of our experience and
labour in the spirit of solidarity and friendship between our two
countries and our two peoples.

10. On a wider level, I am pleased to note that our two countries now have
a tradition of good cooperation on a number of international and regional
issues based on shared perceptions, ideals and beliefs. We have joined
together on several occasions in such diverse fora as the United Nations,
the Organisation of Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement in
pursuit of initiatives designed to strengthen world peace and stability.

11. Malaysia highly appreciates Mali's support on such issues as Kampuchea
and Antarctica and we have benefitted from the consultations and joint
approaches taken on such important issues as Palestine and Afghanistan.

12. As Your Excellency is aware, Malaysia has also been greatly distressed
by the injustices that have been inflicted on Palestine and the
Palestinian people. We join the international community in condemning
Israeli aggression. My Government views the Palestinian question as the
core of the West Asian problem and only through its just solution can
durable peace be promoted and assured in that region. We are also
convinced that the Palestinian question cannot be solved without the
exercise by the Palestinian people of their inalienable rights of
self-determination and the establishment of an independent Palestinian
State. In our support for the Palestinian cause, we will continue to make
every effort to solicit concrete international action for the solution of
the Palestinian question.

13. Excellency, we in Malaysia also take a keen interest in developments
in Africa. We have unfailingly supported the initiatives of the African
states to bring about a peaceful settlement of the Namibian issue and to
end the inhuman and racist policy of apartheid which continues to be
perpetrated by the South African regime. You may recall that in 1971,
Malaysia successfully took the lead in calling for the expulsion of South
Africa from the Commonwealth because of its apartheid policies. Malaysia
also participated in the United Nations Peace-Keeping Force in the Congo,
as it was then called, in 1960. It is our hope to widen the scope of the
economic and political cooperation with the nations of Africa. We believe
that Southeast Asia and Africa can and should be partners in the struggle
for a better international political and economic order.

14. Your Excellency, may I once again thank you for your warm and
brotherly hospitality. I am confident that exchange of visits such as this
will lay the foundation for greater cooperation between our two countries
and allow for very useful exchanges of views on a whole range of bilateral
relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual concern.

15. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Your
Excellency, Madam Mariam Traore and the people of Mali continued happiness
and prosperity.

Thank you