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Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE SUNWAY LAGOON RESORT HOTEL,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 23/02/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE OPENING OF THE NON-ALIGNED
MOVEMENT'S BUSINESS FORUM
ON SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
"Building a New World Order - Sustaining Peace,
Sharing Global Prosperity"
I would like to welcome to Malaysia, all
delegates from NAM member countries. I would also
like to congratulate the organisers, the Asian
Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), the Malaysia
South-South Association (MASSA) and the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs for organising a timely forum to
discuss ways to strengthen South-South Cooperation.
2. I would also like to express the deep
appreciation of member countries to the outgoing
Chairman, H.E. President Thabo Mbeki of the Republic
of South Africa who has provided invaluable
leadership to the Movement at a very critical time
where a new world order is being forged. When the
Movement last met in 1998 in Durban, South Africa,
the world had not experienced the tragedy of
September 11 and the ensuing fight against global
terrorism.
3. The international situation has relapsed into
the old state of uncertainty. International
leadership, be it by the major powers or the United
Nations, has become vague as confrontations at the
interstate and intra-state levels increased.
Questions have again been asked over the role and
relevance of the Non-Aligned Movement. Our inability
to collectively stand against many issues that have
affected each individual country differently has been
cited by our detractors as marking the beginning of
the end of the Movement.
4. NAM was forged 48 years ago to be the third
force between the two superpower blocs. NAM was
designed to play the pivotal role in liberating the
world from those who dominated it through colonialism
and other forms of hegemony. NAM was expected to
promote democratic relations among states and to help
the growth of developing countries, through enhanced
South-South and North-South relations.
5. The political struggle has not been without
achievements; especially against colonialism and
apartheid. But the domination of the world by a
select few remains. This is evident in their
control of the international media and institutions
which deal with issues of world security and economy.
The Security Council and the Bretton Woods
institutions remain under the firm grip of a few
countries. The domination now extends into the
imposition of their values and standards in total
disregard for the cultures and traditions of others.
And so the fundamental challenge to our Movement
remains that of addressing the domination of the
world by a select few, now no longer divided into
opposing blocs. We have lost the option to defect to
the other side. The only way we can protect
ourselves is to close ranks and adopt common stands.
6. Let us send a clear message to our detractors
that NAM is still alive and intends to play a major
role in the post-cold war era. NAM is a major forum
for consultations and coordination of positions on
crucial political and economic issues among the
developing countries. It is still the only forum
where Heads of State and Government of the South can
meet to take stock of developments which affect all
of us. NAM, on behalf of the South, will continue to
champion the just cause for a new world order
based on the principles of justice, equality and
democracy in international relations.
7. Admittedly, the South, which this Movement
represents, was never a single monolithic entity. It
was a grouping of nations with widely differing
interests, united largely by a common colonial past.
Despite becoming independent and sovereign, many of
us in the South continue to be economically weak and
dependent on the North. Political freedom has not
cut loose the economic chains. High levels of
poverty pose the greatest threat to many of us, the
developing countries.
8. Before the South can collectively demand that it
be taken seriously as a player in the international
arena, it must confront and overcome its own
weaknesses. A shared colonial past cannot
permanently guarantee the unity and cohesion of the
South. Ethnic, tribal and religious differences have
led to the collapse of many governments, often
culminating in brutal and protracted civil wars. The
freedom that we gained at great cost and sacrifice
has been squandered by many of us. Development of our
countries, eradication of poverty and the improvement
in the quality of life of our people have been put on
the back burner.
9. Many of us have spent billions on armaments and
weapons of destruction when we should be fighting
malnutrition, illiteracy and disease. Although we
have set up regional groupings to help resolve
disputes between us, far too often we resort to armed
confrontations. The little money that we have is
wasted in this way. The saddest part is that in the
end we have to revert to the status quo with no one
gaining anything.
10. It is actually in the interest of the more
prosperous states of the world to help the poorer
nations. That is our experience in Malaysia. When
the rich invested in our country they helped to
enrich us and we then became rich markets for their
goods. Because of this we have adopted the "Prosper
Thy Neighbour Policy". By enriching others we now
have rich markets for the growing manufactured
products that we export. Enriching poorer nations
including neighbours is not charity. It is
enlightened self-interest. Not only will we create
markets and rich trading partners, but we will create
a more prosperous and peaceful world.
11. Fortunately, for us the debilitating
stranglehold of political ideologies has been
relaxed. The main concern for everyone now is
economic development and the well-being of our
people. For this we need stability and a legal
framework as well as practices which are conducive to
business and trade. All of us have some resources to
depend on, including an abundance of labour. It
remains for us to ensure minimal political
uncertainties, especially the reversals of previous
commitments whenever new governments take over.
While we may not need the kind of openness and
transparency demanded by the developed countries, it
must be admitted that business cannot be done in an
environment of total opacity and uncertainty.
12. We know that the wealth of a country depends on
the ability and the skill to translate resources into
products or services that can be marketed. The very
rich oil producing countries had oil throughout the
centuries of their existence. But they only became
rich when this oil was piped up from the bowels of
the earth and sold to consumers. The capability to
bring up the oil was not with the countries
concerned. But obviously until the oil was brought
up these countries were extremely poor and
undeveloped. It is equally obvious that it is not
the resource but the ability to produce and market it
that matters. Gold in the ground underneath our feet
does not make us rich. But producing and selling it
will. This is elementary.
13. But before the resources can be converted to wealth
certain preconditions are needed. The most important is
the political environment that prevails.
14. Let us admit that for many of us the political
environment is not conducive to the exploitation of
our resources. Since independence we have been
plagued by political instability. Whether the
Government is autocratic or democratic does not
really matter. All the developed countries of today
were built up by autocratic rulers. It is only quite
recently that they have become democratic. And being
democratic does not ensure political stability.
Indeed political stability is even more difficult to
achieve in a democratic system.
15. Clearly it is not the system that counts, it is
the practitioners of the system. A benevolent and
caring autocrat can do wonders to develop a nation.
On the other hand a democracy with numerous bickering
political parties, none of which are big enough to
provide a strong Government, all of which are bent on
disruptions of all kinds in order to bring down the
incumbent; will also not be stable. The people are
supposed to be wise and to choose a Government that
will be good for them. But the reality is that people
are not wise, not even the majority of them. They
are usually deeply divided, more interested in their
narrow ideological, ethnic or party concerns than
they are in the well-being of their nation.
Frequently they are bribed or they threaten the
election candidates and the Government to grant them
favours, illegally and unfairly, if their votes are
to be won. Then there is the lobbying system, where
a fee is paid lobbyists who have access to decision
makers. Those who can afford the most influential
lobbyist get favours which are denied to others. In
the end it is not good Government that democracy
delivers, but Governments which offer bribes and
accept bribes. For most of the people, it is what
they get personally that matters, not the development
of the nation and the well-being of the people.
16. I am not saying that we should abandon
democracy. Autocracy can be worse as we need force
to remove an autocrat. We need only to vote a
democratic Government out of office. For the time
being democracy offers us the best political system.
But we need to know how to manage it, to use it in
order to have good Governments and political
stability. We want political stability because it is
good in itself. But we want it more because it can
help prosper our country.
17. Corruption afflicts every country in the world.
It is the degree of corruption that determines the
success or otherwise of a Government's ability to
develop the economic potential of a country. Where
corruption is openly accepted as a way of life, no
country can develop and prosper. The business
community fears corruption but some welcome it. What
is certain is that corruption, by increasing the cost
of doing business will hinder the progress of a
country. Although anti-corruption efforts seldom
succeed in putting an end to corruption, it is
probably successful in slowing down or halting the
spread of corruption. That is good enough.
18. Political instability and corruption are the two
most important obstructions to business and wealth
creation. We of the South must overcome these
weaknesses if we want to see business activities
prosper our countries.
19. That there is a lot of business to be done in
the South is obvious. Why else should the countries
of the North fight each other in order to get the
business of the countries of the South? It follows
therefore that there are business opportunities in
the South which can help build up the economies of
the countries. It also means that companies in the
South can also avail themselves of these
opportunities and keep more of the wealth within the
South.
20. It was in order to do this that the Group of
Fifteen countries of the South was formed. This core
group should be able to pioneer South-South
cooperation in economic development. It has achieved
some success but admittedly it is nothing to be proud
of.
21. We live in challenging times. The world as we
know it has forever been changed for the worse by the
harrowing events of September 11. We risk our world
plunging into more chaos as Israel seize upon this
event as an excuse to launch terror attacks against
the Palestinians, claiming that it is fighting
against terrorism. The result is predictable. Every
time the Israelis attack, the Palestinians retaliate.
Then the Israelis have to retaliate, which attracts
Palestinian retaliation. There is not only no end to
this but acts of terror are escalating and have
already spread to other parts of the world. The
attack against Iraq will simply anger more Muslims
who see this as being anti Muslim rather than anti
terror. The fact that North Korea's open admission
that it has weapons of mass destruction has met only
with mild admonishment by the West seems to prove
that indeed it is a war against Muslims and not
against the fear of possession of weapons of mass
destruction by the so-called rogue countries.
22. The world is in a state of terror. We are quite
paranoid. We are afraid of flying, of going to
certain countries, fearful of certain people. We are
afraid of white powder, shoes, metal cutlery on
aircrafts. Recently in Australia an airport was
evacuated because of the strong smell of a delicious
Malaysian fruit. We are afraid of Muslims, of Arabs,
of bearded people. We are afraid of war, of the
disruption it can cause and the uncertainties.
23. All these are not good for business, all
increase the cost of doing business. We do not know
how long we will remain in this state of terror.
Fighting global terrorists is not like fighting a
conventional war against a country. You can defeat a
country and get it to surrender, sign a treaty and
bring the war to an end. But global terrorists
belong to no country. Even if their leaders
surrender there is no guarantee that other leaders
will not emerge, that the followers and new recruits
will not continue their terror attacks.
24. This is the environment that we must do business
in. It is going to be very difficult. The world
will not grow as it used to prior to September 11,
2001. We may get used to this of course, to lower
standards, to a slide into greater poverty even. But
if we don't learn how to handle this poor business
environment we can only get worse.
25. The business community of the South must learn
to work together, to study and discuss and devise our
way to overcome our problems. We must learn from the
failures and success of each other. But above all we
must stay together and act together. The rest we
have to leave to the politicians. They hold the key
and only they can recreate the world environment
which can enable economic prosperity through business
to return. To stay and act together I would like to
suggest that your Forum could perhaps give
consideration to establishing a Business Council of
the NAM, so that the momentum created can be carried
forward.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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