Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	THE PAN PACIFIC GLENMARIE RESORT, 
			SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	08/11/94 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	THE ASIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN CONFERENCE 
			ON ENVIRONMENT AND 
			SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 


 
   May I extend to you a very  warm welcome to Malaysia and
thank you for your presence at this  Asian   Parliamentarian
Conference   on  Environment  and  Sustainable  Development,
organised by the Malaysian Asian  Forum of  Parliamentarians
on Population and Development (AFPPD).
2.   The   theme   of   this  Conference   "Environment  and
Sustainable  Development" underscores  the importance of the
Implementation  of  the Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).   At  the
Rio Earth Summit,  my colleagues,  both from the  developing
and the developed countries,  had agreed to work together to
achieve sustainable  development  on  the  recognition  that
people cannot have a healthy society nor a  vibrant  economy
in  a  world  steeped  in  abject  poverty,    unsustainable
lifestyles  and   environmental   degradation.      Economic
development should not cease  but  must, however, adjust its
course, given the increasing signals at  various  levels  of
society for an environmentally sound development process.
3.   Rio gave rise to  hopes for a  new  global  partnership
where both the South and the North,  as well as the  peoples
of the  world,   would  collectively  work  towards  halting
environmental   degradation   and   promoting    sustainable
development.  It also appreciates  the  need  of  developing
countries to catch up with the rest of the world to  achieve
our common objective for global sustainable development.
4.   The transition towards sustainable development requires
international partnership based on  such  considerations  as
common  but  differentiated  responsibilities,  a supportive
external economic environment and taking  into  account  the
specific   social  and  economic  conditions  of  individual
countries and their sustainable development priorities.
5.    Yet, regrettably two years  and  4  months  after  the
historic  UNCED  in Rio, the global community is running the
risk  of  inaction.    The  fundamental  problem   currently
confronting the implementation of the Rio decisions revolves
around  the  issues of means of implementation, i.e. new and
additional financial resources and technology transfer.  The
global partnership  that  was  agreed  to  at  Rio  was  the
explicit  understanding  and  commitment  that the developed
countries would assist the developing  countries  in  making
the  transition  towards  sustainable  development  with the
provision of new and additional resources.   A  great  cause
for  concern  for  the  developing  countries  is  that  the
commitment  of  substantial  new  and  additional  financial
resources made have not been translated into reality.  UNCED
had  estimated that about US$625 billion per year was needed
by developing countries to  finance  activities  related  to
Agenda  21.    Of this amount, about US$500 billion per year
would have to come from domestic resources generated  within
developing countries while the estimated external flows from
the developed to the developing countries was US$125 billion
per year.
6.     We would be less than honest if we do not discern the
prevailing  general  sense  of  disappointment   among   the
developing   countries   vis-a-vis  the  commitment  towards
implementing the decisions we took at Rio in 1992.    Agenda
21 remains far from being implemented.
7.    At  Rio,    the  industrialised  countries  reaffirmed
their  commitments  to  reach the accepted target of 0.7 per
cent of Gross National Product    for  Official  Development
Assistance  (ODA).  I observe with great disappointment that
the resources under ODA are falling instead  of  increasing.
In  fact  the  OECD  countries'  development  assistance  to
developing countries fell  sharply  in  1993,  from  US$60.8
billion  in  1992  to  US$54.8 billion in 1993.  The overall
ratio of development assistance to GNP fell  from  0.33  per
cent to 0.29 percent.
8.      The  only new money available is in the restructured
Global Environment Facility (GEF).   The new  GEF  has  been
replenished  with  pledges from 26 countries, totalling US$2
billion to cover programmes under the scope of GEF  as  well
as the Conventions on Climate Change and Biodiversity.  US$2
billion  is  but  a  drop  in the ocean in comparison to the
requirements estimated at Rio.   Regrettably, the  situation
is  made  worse  in  the sense that the release of funds for
project implementation is subject to conditionalities.
9.    Matters related to  the  implementation  of  financial
commitments contained in Agenda 21, include those related to
terms  of  trade,  commodity  prices,  market  access,  debt
relief, Official Development Assistance and other  measures.
The  issue of financial resources and mechanism was reviewed
by the Commission on Sustainable Development at  its  second
session  held  in  New  York  in  May  1994.    I am greatly
disappointed that discussions on finance  have  not  led  to
tangible advancement on this issue.
10.    It  has  become  fashionable  at recent international
meetings and conferences for developed  countries  to  state
that  the onus of identifying and mobilising resources is at
the national level, thus shifting their share of the  burden
by   pushing  for  internally  generated  resources  in  the
developing   countries    through    restructuring    budget
priorities,  national  level  policy  changes, reordering of
priorities and reduction in  military  spending.    While  I
believe   in  the  importance  of  national  governments  to
implement plans of action, this would be incomplete  without
the concomitant role of the international community.  I call
upon  the  developed  countries  not  to  backtrack on their
existing commitments.
11.   Malaysia  shares  the  concerns  of  other  developing
countries   in   other   issues   relating   to  sustainable
development, especially in the areas of international trade,
transboundary movement of toxic, hazardous and  radio-active
wastes, forestry and biodiversity.
12.  The share of the developing countries in world trade is
small.  Many developing countries are not competitive in the
international  market  place as they are mainly dependent on
the export of raw materials and low technology goods.
13.   Cheaper labour cost is still  a  form  of  competitive
advantage  most  developing  countries are relying on out of
necessity.  But in the quest to seek and develop markets  in
which   they   can   be   internationally  competitive,  the
developing countries face fresh and unjustified  impediments
such  as the linking of non-trade issues like eco-labelling,
imposition  of  social  clauses,  global  minimum  wage  and
perceived  human rights violations in order to wipe out what
remains of the trade prospects of the developing  countries.
As   it   is,   the   developed  countries  already  possess
competitive advantages in proprietary technology, access  to
rich  domestic  markets, capital, management skills, credits
extended specifically for the purchase of their own exports,
and grants by their  Government  conditional  upon  projects
being  given  to  their  companies  or  purchases  of  their
exports.     Developing  countries  have   none   of   these
advantages.    I  see  the  continued  attempts  by  certain
developed countries to introduce  more  conditionalities  in
the international trade regime as disguised protectionism to
erode   further   not  only  the  insignificant  competitive
advantage of the developing countries but also to impose  an
unbearable  burden  on  the developing countries.   In fact,
some academics in developed countries  are  already  arguing
that  trade  between  developed  and developing countries is
damaging to the economy of the developed.
14.   Developing countries must strongly  resist  all  these
moves  which  will  have  very  negative  impacts  on  their
economic development and may result in more unemployment and
deterioration of the living conditions of their people.
15.  Malaysia shares the growing concerns of the  developing
countries  regarding the transboundary movement of toxic and
hazardous waste.   The discussions by  the  Parties  to  the
Basel   Convention  in  Geneva  on  24-25  March,  1994  are
certainly going in the right direction.  Malaysia  supported
the  ban  on the export of hazardous wastes from the OECD to
the non-OECD countries.  The position taken by  Malaysia  is
based  on  our  strong belief that to knowingly pollute your
neighbour's land and to cause  harm  to  his  family  is  an
environmental  crime  that  violates human rights.  Malaysia
will  certainly   support   any   call   for   international
cooperation  in  the strengthening of institutions to assist
governments  and  industries  in  the  adoption   of   clean
technologies  as well as for the prevention of pollution and
in the handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes.
16.   I would also like to  highlight  the  possible  damage
inflicted  by  foreign ships carrying toxic and radio-active
materials through  their  seas,  especially  through  narrow
straits.  Such disposal of toxic, hazardous and radio-active
wastes  as  well  as oil spills and desludging activities on
the high seas have serious  and  negative  impacts  on  both
marine and land resources.  As a littoral state faced with a
situation  where more than 360 vessels daily ply the Straits
of Malacca and the South China Sea, there is an urgent  need
to  take all the necessary precautionary measures to prevent
risks involving the disposal of tanker sludge.  The interest
of littoral states must be safeguarded.   In  this  respect,
the   International   Maritime   Organisation  (IMO)  should
seriously address these problems.
17.   On forestry, the developing countries,  especially the
tropical   timber  producers,    are  victims  of  misguided
campaigns.  These  impact  negatively  on  tropical  timber.
Their  timber  exports are increasingly subjected to new and
arbitrary   requirements  and  conditionalities  related  to
certification and  labelling  and  new  interpretations  for
sustainability of forest management.  These conditionalities
have resulted in the rejection of tropical  timber  products
by municipalities of some European countries without  giving
fair  assessment   to  the  source  of  timber.    Even  the
Do-It-Yourself people have been pressured to  drop  tropical
timber products for their use.
18.    If  the  developed  countries are genuinely concerned
about  the  sustainability   of   forest   utilisation   and
management,  the  standards and criteria imposed on tropical
timber should be applied fairly and equally  on  all  timber
products, including those from temperate and boreal forests.
19.    On  biodiversity,  the  developed countries have been
utilising freely the  rich  biodiversity  resources  of  the
developing  countries  with  no  benefits  accruing  to  the
resource owners.  In developing biodiversity for the benefit
of mankind, there must be  fair  and  equitable  returns  to
resource  owners, e.g. in developing pharmaceutical products
by  the  Western  Trans  National  Corporation.    Certainly
developing  countries  would not want to see a repeat of the
"Periwinkle" case of Madagascar where two drugs derived from
this plant  are  reported  to  earn  for  its  multinational
company  US$100  million  annually,  but  no appropriate and
equitable financial benefits given to the  resource  owners.
I  would urge the developing countries which own the largest
share of the world genetic resources to develop a strong and
common stand pertaining to the modes of  collaboration  with
foreign partners.
20.     To  achieve  sustainable  development  requires  the
participation of all  players,  including  law  makers  like
yourself.   What is most urgent at this stage is to focus on
the means of implementation of the various agreements.   The
present   approach   to   sustainable  development  and  the
implementation of conventions  relating  to  environment  is
seriously  flawed.    It  has  lost  its  focus and this has
unfortunately come about because  the  developing  countries
require  financial  assistance  and  technology  transfer to
fulfill the objectives of the conventions.   This  need  has
subjected  them  to  conditionalities  set  by the developed
countries.  I get the impression that during discussions  on
the   implementation   of  the  various  environment-related
conventions,  the  developing  countries  are  treated  like
beggars   for  aid.     I  have  also  observed  with  great
disappointment the undesirable  tendency  of  the  developed
countries  to  treat the environment- related conventions as
an ODA exercise  with  all  its  obnoxious  and  patronising
undertones.
21.    It is my sincere hope that during this conference all
of  you  could  establish  procedures  and  arrangements  to
monitor   and   assess  the  performance  of  the  developed
countries  in  honouring  their  commitments   to   existing
conventions  and indeed their own performance with regard to
sustainable development in their countries.  Your initiative
in  this   matter   would   contribute   usefully   to   the
deliberations  at  the Commission on Sustainable Development
which was established to monitor the implementation of UNCED
decisions.
22.   With  these  remarks,  I  now  have  the  pleasure  of
declaring   this   Asian   Parliamentarians   Conference  on
Environment and Sustainable Development officially open.