Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	CARACAS 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	04/08/90 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	THE DINNER HOSTED IN HONOUR OF HIS 
			EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT 
			OF VENEZUELA 




 His Excellency President Carlos Andres Perez,
    and Madame Perez;
Excellencies;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
    May  I  first of all extend to you a very warm welcome.
It is a great honour for me and my wife to play host to Your
Excellency and Madame Perez.
2.   These last few days have been exciting ones for me  and
my  delegation.   We have had very fruitful discussions on a
whole range of issues affecting our bilateral relations.   I
am  very  pleased that there was a unanimity of views on all
these issues.   Yesterday  afternoon  we  initiated  several
agreements  which  will  put our relations on a firm footing
and pave the way for an expansion in  economic  cooperation.
Venezuela  now  becomes  the  first country in South America
with which Malaysia has such extensive ties.
3.   It is worth noting that what brought us together is the
simple idea that countries of the South have much  to  offer
each  other  in  terms of economic cooperation and that such
cooperation can make a meaningful contribution  to  our  re-
spective efforts at economic development.
4.   Of  course we have no illusions that intensified bilat-
eral cooperation between our two countries is going to solve
all our economic problems.  Our small populations  and  lim-
ited  markets mean that we have to also look further afield.
However if we can forge such cooperative ties with others in
the South, a network of trade and economic ties can  be  de-
veloped  which  collectively can quicken the pace of our de-
velopment.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
5.   It has been said that a journey of a thousand miles be-
gins with the first step.  We have already taken several im-
pressive strides.  The establishment of the South Commission
was one.   The Final  Report  which  was  launched  here  in
Caracas, is the first independent assessment of the problems
of  the South by the South.  It provides a clear perspective
of how the South can promote its own economic  growth  while
integrating  with  the global economy.  We all owe a debt of
gratitude to Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and  the  other  Commis-
sioners for their dedication and outstanding contribution to
the cause of South-South cooperation.
6.   The Kuala Lumpur Summit of the Group of 15 Countries of
the  South  was  yet another landmark event.   For the first
time  we  went  beyond  declarations  and  adopted  specific
projects for implementation.
7.   My  visit  to  Venezuela, at the kind invitation of His
Excellency President Perez, gave us the opportunity to  make
further  advances  by  implementing, at the bilateral level,
some of the projects adopted in Kuala Lumpur.  In this sense
the new framework for bilateral cooperation  that  has  been
established  between Malaysia and Venezuela is important not
just for Malaysia-Venezuela relations but also for the South
as a whole.
8.   I am aware of course that some countries in  the  South
doubt  the efficacy of South-South cooperation.  They see it
as little more than the usual rhetoric of the South.   I  am
convinced  however  that  when they begin to see that South-
South cooperation can  really  bring  tangible  benefits  in
terms  of increased trade, investments and technical cooper-
ation, the momentum for  South-South  cooperation  will  in-
crease.   With non-tariff barriers going up in the North and
economic assistance increasingly tied  to  political  condi-
tions, a greater reliance on the South will prove necessary.
In  the  meantime,  those  of  us  who can agree on specific
projects and programmes will push ahead.  South-South  coop-
eration  must  be built on individual cooperative endeavours
between states and I think we have been able  to  accomplish
that over these last few days.
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
9.   Before I conclude, I want to thank His Excellency Pres-
ident  Perez  and  Madame  Perez  for receiving us with such
graciousness and warmth.   I  very  much  enjoyed  our  dis-
cussions  and your commitment to South-South cooperation has
been an encouragement to me.  I also want to thank  all  the
officials  who  have worked so hard to ensure that every de-
tail of the visit was attended to.  I know I speak  for  all
members of my delegation when I say that this has truly been
a memorable and fruitful visit for us.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
10.  May  I now propose a toast to His Excellency the Presi-
dent of Venezuela and Madame Perez, to friendship and  coop-
eration  between Malaysia and Venezuela and to the future of
the South.