Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	ISTANA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	28/08/95 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	OPENING OF THE 4TH ASIA-PACIFIC 
			MANAGEMENT CONSULTANTS 



               Let   me   begin   by   congratulating    the
    Institute  of  Management  Consultants,  Malaysia   for
    organising  the 4th Asia-Pacific Management Consultants
    Conference here in Malaysia.  I would like to extend  a
    warm  welcome  to all the overseas delegates  and  hope
    that  you  will  have the opportunity  to  look  around
    Malaysia and see something of its natural beauty.   The
    gathering of management consultants here in Malaysia at
    this time is appropriate as we continue to analyse  the
    process of managing the changes we have put in place in
    Malaysia in order to accelerate growth and development.
    
    2.    Although  there must have been elements  of  good
    luck,Malaysia's progress was achieved through much hard
    work,   pragmatism  and  a  commitment  to  long   term
    planning.  There is no mystery involved as we  did  the
    obvious.   Very  early  the Government  recognised  the
    vital  importance  of the role of the  private  sector.
    Our  National  Economic Policy was  therefore  business
    friendly  and  market-driven  as  it  is  premised   on
    dividing a growing economic cake.  Secondly, we believe
    in  power  sharing  between the various  races  in  the
    country.   Thirdly,  we  believe  in  `musyawarah'  and
    `muafakat',   the   principles  of   consultation   and
    consensus.   We  had a taste of the results  of  racial
    confrontation in 1969 and we have never been anxious to
    resort to that approach since.

    3.   It is fortunate that despite having a multi-racial
    and multi-cultural society, Malaysia  remains  peaceful
    and stable.  We  will  continue  to maintain our stable
    political climate.We will continue to march confidently
    towards the 21st century. We remain clear in our shared
    vision.  We have common goals and common aspirations to
    become a fully-developed  and  industrialised nation by
    the year 2020.Anything can happen in 25 years to derail
    us, but we are going to try very hard.
    
    4.    It  may  be  useful  for your  conference,  which
    comprises management experts from around the world,  to
    look   at   the  Malaysian  experience  for  comparison
    purpose.  There may be something to learn from it.   We
    also  hope  that  the foreign experts present  in  this
    conference  will  be  able to  share  their  knowledge,
    experience and technology with us.  We will all benefit
    from these exchanges.
    
    5.    One of the reasons for the Look East Policy is to
    learn   the   management  methods  of  the   successful
    countries of the East.  But it would be shortsighted to
    disregard the West.  There are positive aspects in  the
    West  and  the East and Malaysia wishes to combine  the
    two.
    
    6.    I  am  confident that Malaysian managers will  be
    able to rise to the challenges of the future.  There is
    a  vital need to upgrade our managerial capabilities so
    as   to  be  able  to  face  the  strategic  management
    challenges in the 21st century.
    
    7.    Let  me now turn to the theme of your conference,
    the  Emerging Asia-Pacific Region.  It is said that the
    21st century is the Asia-Pacific Century. Much has been
    written  and  spoken about the dynamism of the  Pacific
    Rim  and  the opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region.
    I  do not want to  belabour the point.  We already know
    that the Asia-Pacific region accounts for 25 percent of
    today's world's GDP, and it will be the fastest growing
    region in the world by the 21st century.  What needs to
    be  stressed  is that the Asia-Pacific  region  is  not
    homogeneous.

    8.   South-east Asia is different from North-east Asia.
    Yet,  we share some common values.  The bottom-line  is
    our  collective  willingness to find common  ground  so
    that  we  can  move in one direction towards  the  21st
    century.  The one idea that has taken root in  most  of
    the  region  is  the  emerging consensus  towards  open
    regionalism.
    
    9.    Open regionalism will not result in trade  blocs.
    The  ASEAN  proposal for an East Asia  Economic  Caucus
    (EAEC) should therefore be viewed positively.  EAEC  is
    not  exclusionist.  EAEC is a caucus within  APEC  just
    like  NAFTA can be viewed as also a caucus within APEC.
    Hence, there is nothing to fear from the EAEC.  EAEC is
    intended  to  promote  open  regionalism  and  will  be
    transparent.  I hope your conference can also look into
    the  challenges, merits and prospects arising from  the
    EAEC.
    
    10.   On this note, I am delighted to declare open this
    conference.