The purpose of this paper is to present before
you some thoughts on the future course of our nation and how we
should go about to attain our objective of developing Malaysia into
an industrialised country. Also outlined are some measures that
should be in place in the shorter term so that the foundations can
be laid for the long journey towards that ultimate objective.
Hopefully the Malaysian who is born today
and in the years to come will be the last generation of our
citizens who will be living in a country that is called
'developing'. The ultimate objective that we should aim for is a
Malaysia that is a fully developed country by the year 2020.
What, you might rightly ask, is 'a fully
developed country'? Do we want to be like any particular country
of the present 19 countries that are generally regarded as
'developed countries'? Do we want to be like the United Kingdom,
like Canada, like Holland, like Sweden, like Finland, like
Japan? To be sure, each of the 19, out of a world community of
more than 160 states, has its strengths. But each also has its
fair share of weaknesses. Without being a duplicate of any of
them we can still be developed. We should be a developed country
in our own mould.
Malaysia should not be developed only in the
economic sense. It must be a nation that is fully developed
along all the dimensions: economically, politically, socially,
spiritually, psychologically and culturally. We must be fully
developed in terms of national unity and social cohesion, in
terms of our economy, in terms of social justice, political
stability, system of government, quality of life, social and
spiritual values, national pride and confidence.
Malaysia As A Fully Developed Country
- One Definition
By the year 2020, Malaysia can be a united
nation, with a confident Malaysian society, infused by strong
moral and ethical values, living in a society that is
democratic, liberal and tolerant, caring, economically just and
equitable, progressive and prosperous, and in full possession of
an economy that is competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
There can be no fully developed Malaysia
until we have finally overcome the nine central strategic
challenges that have confronted us from the moment of our birth
as an independent nation.
The first of these is the challenges of
establishing a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common
and shared destiny. This must be a nation at peace with itself,
territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and
full and fair partnership, made up of one 'Bangsa Malaysia' with
political loyalty and dedication to the nation.
The second is the challenge of creating a
psychologically liberated, secure, and developed Malaysian
Society with faith and confidence in itself, justifiably proud
of what it is, of what it has accomplished, robust enough to
face all manner of adversity. This Malaysian Society must be
distinguished by the pursuit of excellence, fully aware of all
its potentials, psychologically subservient to none, and
respected by the peoples of other nations.
The third challenge we have always faced is
that of fostering and developing a mature democratic society,
practising a form of mature consensual, community-oriented
Malaysian democracy that can be a model for many developing
countries.
The fourth is the challenge of establishing
a fully moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in
religious and spiritual values and imbued with the highest of
ethical standards.
The fifth challenge that we have always
faced is the challenge of establishing a matured liberal and
tolerant society in which Malaysians of all colours and creeds
are free to practise and profess their customs, cultures and
religious beliefs and yet feeling that they belong to one
nation.
The sixth is the challenge of establishing a
scientific and progressive society, a society that is innovative
and forward-looking, one that is not only a consumer of
technology but also a contributor to the scientific and
technological civilisation of the future.
The seventh challenge is the challenge of
establishing a fully caring society and a caring culture, a
social system in which society will come before self, in which
the welfare of the people will revolve not around the state or
the individual but around a strong and resilient family system.
The eighth is the challenge of ensuring an
economically just society. This is a society in which there is a
fair and equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation, in
which there is full partnership in economic progress. Such a
society cannot be in place so long as there is the
identification of race with economic function, and the
identification of economic backwardness with race.
The ninth challenge is the challenge of
establishing a prosperous society, with an economy that is fully
competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.
We have already come a long way towards the
fulfilment of these objectives. The nine central objectives
listed need not be our order of priorities over the next three
decades. Most obviously, the priorities of any moment in time
must meet the specific circumstances of that moment in time.
But it would be surprising if the first
strategic challenge which I have mentioned --the establishment
of a united Malaysian nation -- is not likely to be the most
fundamental, the most basic.
Since much of what I will say this morning
will concentrate on economic development, let me stress yet
again that the comprehensive development towards the developed
society that we want --however each of us may wish to define it
--cannot mean material and economic advancement only. Far from
it. Economic development must not become the be-all and the
end-all of our national endeavours.
Since this Council must concentrate on the
issues of economic development and economic social justice,
which for this nation must go hand in hand for the foreseeable
future, let me expand on the perception of the central strategic
challenges with regard to these two vital objectives.
At this point it is well to define in
greater detail the objective of establishing an economically
just society.
Of the two prongs of the NEP no one is
against the eradication of absolute poverty --regardless of
race, and irrespective of geographical location. All Malaysians,
whether they live in the rural or the urban areas, whether they
are in the south, north, east or west, must be moved above the
line of absolute poverty.
This nation must be able to provide enough
food on the table so that not a solitary Malaysian is subjected
to the travesty of gross under-nourishment. We must provide
enough by way of essential shelter, access to health facilities,
and all the basic essentials. A developed Malaysia must have a
wide and vigorous middle class and must provide full
opportunities for those in the bottom third to climb their way
out of the pit of relative poverty.
The second prong, that of removing the
identification of race with major economic function is also
acceptable except that somehow it is thought possible to achieve
this without any shuffling of position. If we want to build an
equitable society than we must accept some affirmative action.
This will mean that in all the major and important sectors of
employment, there should be a good mix of the ethnic groups that
make up the Malaysian nation. By legitimate means we must ensure
a fair balance with regard to the professions and all the major
categories of employment. Certainly we must be as interested in
quality and merit. But we must ensure the healthy development of
a viable and robust Bumiputera commercial and industrial
community.
A developed Malaysia should not have a
society in which economic backwardness is identified with race.
This does not imply individual income equality, a situation in
which all Malaysians will have the same income. This is an
impossibility because by sheer dint of our own individual
effort, our own individual upbringing and our individual
preferences, we will all have different economic worth, and will
be financially rewarded differently. An equality of individual
income as propounded by socialists and communists is not only
not possible, it is not desirable and is a formula for disaster.
But I do believe that the narrowing of the
ethnic income gap, through the legitimate provision of
opportunities, through a closer parity of social services and
infrastructure, through the development of the appropriate
economic cultures and through full human resource development,
is both necessary and desirable. We must aspire by the year 2020
to reach a stage where no-one can say that a particular ethnic
group is inherently economically backward and another is
economically inherently advanced. Such a situation is what we
must work for --efficiently, effectively, with fairness and with
dedication.
"A full partnership in economic progress"
cannot mean full partnership in poverty. It must mean a fair
balance with regard to the participation and contribution of all
our ethnic groups --including the Bumiputeras of Sabah and
Sarawak --in the high-growth, modern sectors of our economy. It
must mean a fair distribution with regard to the control,
management and ownership of the modern economy.
In order to achieve this economically just
society, we must escalate dramatically our programmes for
national human resource development. There is a need to ensure
the creation of an economically resilient and fully competitive
Bumiputera community so as to be at par with the Non-Bumiputera
community. There is need for a mental revolution and a cultural
transformation. Much of the work of pulling ourselves up by our
boot-straps must be done ourselves. In working for the
correction of the economic imbalances, there has to be the
fullest emphasis on making the needed advances at speed and with
the most productive results --at the lowest possible economic
and societal cost.
With regard to the establishment of a
prosperous society, we can set many aspirational goals. I
believe that we should set the realistic (as opposed to
aspirational) target of almost doubling our real gross domestic
product every ten years between 1990 and 2020 AD. If we do this,
our GDP should be about eight times larger by the year 2020 than
it was in 1990. Our GDP in 1990 was 115 billion Ringgit. Our GDP
in 2020 should therefore be about 920 billion Ringgit in real
(1990 Ringgit) terms.
This rapid growth will require that we grow
by an average of about 7 per cent (in real terms) annually over
the next 30 years. Admittedly this is an optimistic projection
but we should set our sights high if we are to motivate
ourselves into striving hard. We must guard against 'growth
fixation', the danger of pushing for growth figures oblivious to
the needed commitment to ensure stability, to keep inflation
low, to guarantee sustainability, to develop our quality of life
and standard of living, and the achievement of our other social
objectives. It will be a difficult task, with many peaks and low
points. But I believe that this can be done
In the 1960s, we grew by an annual average
of 5.1 per cent; in the 1970s, the first decade of the NEP,
Malaysia grew by an average of 7.8 per cent; in the 1980s,
because of the recession years, we grew by an annual average of
5.9 per cent.
If we take the last thirty years, our GDP
rose annually in real terms by an average of 6.3 per cent. If we
take the last twenty years, we grew by an annual average of 6.9
per cent. What is needed is an additional 0.1 per cent growth.
Surely if we all pull together God willing this 0.1% can be
achieved.
If we do succeed, and assuming roughly a 2.5
per cent annual rate of population growth, by the year 2020,
Malaysians will be four times richer (in real terms) than they
were in 1990. That is the measure of the prosperous society we
wish and hopefully we can achieve.
The second leg of our economic objective
should be to secure the establishment of a competitive economy.
Such an economy must be able to sustain itself over the longer
term, must be dynamic, robust and resilient. It must mean, among
other things: A diversified and balanced economy with a mature
and widely based industrial sector, a modern and mature
agriculture sector and an efficient and productive and an
equally mature services sector; an economy that is quick on its
feet, able to quickly adapt to changing patterns of supply,
demand and competition; an economy that is technologically
proficient, fully able to adapt, innovate and invent, that is
increasingly technology intensive, moving in the direction of
higher and higher levels of technology; an economy that has
strong and cohesive industrial linkages throughout the system;
an economy driven by brain-power, skills and diligence, in
possession of a wealth of information, with the knowledge of
what to do and how to do it; an economy with high and escalating
productivity with regard to every factor of production; an
entrepreneurial economy that is self-reliant, outward-looking
and enterprising; an economy sustained by an exemplary work
ethic, quality consciousness and the quest for excellence; an
economy characterised by low inflation and a low cost of living;
an economy that is subjected to the full discipline and rigour
of market forces.
Most of us in this present Council will not
be there on the morning of January 1, 2020 Not many, I think.
The great bulk of the work that must be done to ensure a fully
developed country called Malaysia a generation from now will
obviously be done by the leaders who follow us, by our children
and grand-children. But we should make sure that we have done
our duty in guiding them with regard to what we should work to
become. And let us lay the secure foundations that they must
build upon.
Some Key Public Sector Economic
Policies For The Forseeable Future
Since the early 1980s, we have stressed that
this country will rely on the private sector as the primary
engine of economic growth. In a way we were ahead of the rest of
the world, even the developed countries in entrusting economic
growth to the private sector.
In the early years, our fledgling private
sector could not fully respond to the challenge that was issued.
Then came the unpredictable and difficult recession and slowdown
years. However in the last three years the private sector has
bloomed and responded. The policy is now bearing fruit. The
outcome: in 1988, we grew in real terms by 8.9 per cent; in
1989, by 8.8 per cent; in 1990, by 9.4 per cent without
expansionary budgetting by the Government. Even the tiger
economies of North East Asia have not done so well.
No nation can afford to abandon a winning
formula. And this nation will not. For the forseeable future,
Malaysia will continue to drive the private sector, to rely on
it as the primary engine of growth.
In the meantime the Government will continue
to downsize its role in the field of economic production and
business. The State cannot of course retreat totally from the
economic life of Malaysia. It will not abdicate its
responsibility for overseeing and providing the legal and
regulatory framework for rapid economic and social development.
The Government will be pro-active to ensure
healthy fiscal and monetary management and the smooth
functioning of the Malaysian economy. It will escalate the
development of the necessary physical infrastructure and the
most conducive business environment --consistent with its other
social priorities. And where absolutely neccessary the
Government will not be so completly bound by its commitment to
withdrawal from the economic role, that it will not intervene.
It will play its role judiciously and actively.
The process of de-regulation will continue.
There can be no doubt that regulations are an essential part of
the governance of society, of which the economy is a part. A
state without laws and regulations is a state flirting with
anarchy. Without order, there can be little business and no
development. What is not required is over-regulation although it
may not be easy to decide when the Government is
over-regulating.
Wisdom lies of course in the ability to
distinguish between those laws and regulations which are
productive of our societal objectives and those that are not;
and it lies in making the right judgements with regard to the
trade-offs. Thus Governments will be neither foolish nor
irresponsible, and will cater to the needs of the wider society
as well as the requirements of rapid growth and a competitive,
robust and resilient economy. It will be guided by the knowledge
that the freeing of enterprise too --not only laws and
regulations, and state intervention --can contribute to the
achievement of the wider social objectives. In this light and
given the fact that there are clear areas of unproductive
regulation which need to be phased out, you can expect the
process of productive de-regulation to continue. The recent move
of Bank Negara to de-regulate the BLR regime is an example in
point.
Privatisation will continue to be an
important cornerstone of our national development and national
efficiency strategy. This policy is not founded on ideological
belief. It is aimed specifically at enhancing competitiveness,
efficiency and productivity in the economy, at reducing the
administrative and financial burdens on the Government and at
expediting the attainment of national distributional goals.
In implementing our privatisation policy,
the Government is fully aware of the need to protect public
interest, to ensure that the poor are provided access to
essential services, to guarantee that quality services are
provided at minimum cost, to avoid unproductive monopolistic
practices and to ensure the welfare of workers.
There will be problems. No endeavour comes
without a price tag. But it is clear enough that this policy has
thus far generated positive results and we can expect its
implementation to be accelerated in the future. With the
completion of the Privatisation Master Plan Study, I believe
that many of the bottlenecks and rigidities that obstruct the
progress of the needed privatisation will be removed, thus
accelerating its smooth implementation.
There will be in the years ahead an
Accelerated Industrialisation Drive, a drive that is not based
on a fascination with industry but on the simple truth that if
we want to develop rapidly --in a situation where the developed
economies will be moving out of industrialisation into a
post-industrial stage --this is the way to go. If we are to
industrialise rapidly, we will need to capitalise on our
national strengths and forcefully tackle our weaknesses.
In pursuit of this policy, the Government
will need to deal with the problem of a narrow manufacturing
base. In 1988, 63 per cent of total Malaysian manufactured
exports came from the electrical and electronic and textile
industries. Electronics alone accounted for 50 per cent of total
manufactured exports. We must diversify.
Despite the most rapid development in the
free trade zones insignificant demand has been generated for
local intermediate products. We will have to deal with the
problem of weak industrial linkages.
There is inadequate development of
indigenous technology. There is too little value-added, too much
simple assembly and production. There is also a need to counter
rising production costs brought about by rising costs of labour,
raw materials and overheads by improving efficiency and
productivity. There is a serious shortage of skilled manpower.
All these and many more issues will need to be addressed.
Small and medium scale industries have an
important role to play in generating employment opportunities,
in strengthening industrial linkages, in penetrating markets and
generating export earnings. They have a crucial role as a
spawning ground for the birth of tomorrow's entrepreneurs.
The Government will devise appropriate
assistance schemes and will seek to raise the level of
management expertise, technological know-how and skills of the
employees in this very important and in many ways neglected
sector of our economy.
The SMIs will be one of the primary
foundations for our future industrial thrust. The Government is
fully committed to its healthiest development.
Just as we must diversify the products we
export so must we diversify the markets we export to. Malaysian
exporters must look also at the non-traditional markets. It will
require new knowledge, new networks, new contacts and new
approaches towards dealing with unfamiliar laws, rules and
regulation. It will be uncomfortable but it would be a mistake
to consider that it is not worth the discomfort to deal with
these markets. Alone they may be small but cumulatively the
market of the developing Asian, African and Latin America
countries are big. If the developed countries find it worth
while to export to these markets then it must be worth while for
us also. The Government will help but the private sector must
play their part. Reliance on export-led growth is still the way
to rapid growth.
Entry into the world market pits our
companies against all comers and subjects them to the full force
of international competition. This is a challange we must accept
not simply because the domestic market is too small but because
in the long run it will actually enrich our domestic market and
reduce our dependence on export.
We must persist with export-led growth
despite the global slowdown, despite the rise of protectionism,
trade blocs and managed trade. When the going is tougher, we
must not turn inward. We simply have no choice but to be more
lean, more resourceful, more productive and generally more
competitive, more able to take on the world. 56. The
liberalisation of the Malaysian economy has had beneficial
result and contributed towards a more dynamic growth.
Obviously, liberalisation must be undertaken
responsibly and in stages so as not to create economic
uncertainty and impose excessive structural adjustment costs. We
should take into the fullest consideration Malaysia's capacity
to undertake liberalisation. We should not dismiss the infant
industry argument, but we should not bow to illegitimate
pressure.
At the same time, productive liberalisation
ensures that our private sector will be less reliant on
artificial profits and on protection, which benefits some
producers at the expense of consumers and other producers.
Infants must grow up. They must grow up to be sturdy and strong.
And this cannot be done if they are over-protected.
For reasons that are obvious, the Government
will continue to foster the inflow of foreign investment. This
is essential for Malaysia's Accelerated Industrialisation Drive.
Again, we will not abandon a winning strategy. But we will
fine-tune it to ensure that measures are in place to ensure that
Malaysia maximises the net benefit from the inflow of foreign
investment.
In the past, the domestic private sector has
largely failed to meet the targets set in successive Malaysia
Plans. Apparently domestic investors feel that the Government
has not devoted enough effort to the fostering of domestic
investment as we have devoted to those from overseas. This is
not completely true but we will redress the situation as we get
better feed back.
Small and medium scale enterprises must be
assisted to grow bigger. Surplus savings and domestic capital
must be more productively channeled into investments.
Entrepreneurs must be spawned. Where necessary, technological
and training help must be extended; and infrastructural support
must be given.
It is worthwhile to stress again that the
development that we need cannot take place without the
infrastructural underpinning. We must keep one step ahead of
demand and need. In the recent Budget, we clearly stated what we
will do in the shorter term. The Sixth Malaysia Plan will make
clear what we will do in the medium term while the second
outline perspective Plan will indicate the direction over the
long term. The Government is fully aware of the infrastructure
bottlenecks and of the need for massive investments in the years
to come. We will not let growth to be retarded by excessive
congestion and investment indigestion, as has happened in many
countries.
In our drive to move vigorously ahead
nothing is more important then the development of human
resources.
From the experience in the last two decades
of all the economic miracles of the countries that have been
poor in terms of "natural resources", it is blindingly clear
that the most important resource of any nation must be the
talents, skills, creativity and will of its people. What we have
between our ears, at our elbow and in our heart is much more
important than what we have below our feet and around us. Our
people is our ultimate resource. Without a doubt, in the 1990s
and beyond, Malaysia must give the fullest emphasis possible to
the development of this ultimate resource.
Malaysia has one of the best educational
systems in the Third World. But for the journey that we must
make over our second generation, new standards have to be set
and new results achieved.
We cannot but aspire to the highest
standards with regard to the skills of our people, to their
devotion to knowhow and knowledge upgrading and
self-improvement, to their language competence, to their work
attitudes and discipline, to their managerial abilities, to
their achievement motivation, their attitude towards excellence
and to the fostering of the entrepreneurial spirit.
We cannot afford to neglect the importance
of entrepreneurship and entrepreneural development, which goes,
of course beyond training and education. We must ensure the
correct mix with regard to professionals, sub-professionals,
craftsmen and artisans, and the correct balance with regard to
those with competence in science and technology, the arts and
social sciences.
In the development of human resources we
cannot afford to neglect half the population i.e. the
Bumiputeras. If they are not brought into the mainstream, if
their potentials are not fully developed, if they are allowed to
be a millstone around the national neck, then our progress is
going to be retarded by that much. No nation can achieve full
progress with only half its human resources harnessed. What may
be considered a burden now can, with the correct attitude and
management be the force that lightens our burden and hasten our
progress. The Bumiputeras must play their part fully in the
achievement of the national goal.
Inflation is the bane of all economic
planners. Fortunately except during the first oil shock when
inflation went up to 17%, Malaysia has managed to keep inflation
low. We must continue to keep it low. The Government, the
business sector, and the people must be committed to keeping it
low. The only real way to combat inflation is to live within
one's means. If we cannot afford we just don't buy. In Malaysia
this is possible for we can produce practically all we need in
terms of food, shelter and clothing. When recently we had a
recession, life was bearable because we were able to buy our
needs at roughly the same price i.e. we had practically no
inflation. Now that we have more money, demand pull is slowly
forcing prices up. So although we may be more prosperous now,
although we may be financially wealthier now, but in terms of
purchasing power we are not as well-off as we should be.
The public must understand what causes
inflation and must be disciplined enough to combat it. In some
countries when inflation rates go up to thousands of per cent
per year, Governments have been changed again and again without
inflation being contained. The reason is that the people are not
disciplined and prepared to restrain themselves. No Government
can put a stop to inflation unless the people are prepared to
accept the discomfort of austerity.
In the fight against inflation nothing is
more effective than education and discipline among the people.
In an interdependent trading world, the
exchange rate plays a vital role. Too cheap a currency will
increase import bills and debt payment but it will make exports
competitive. But the full benefit of a low exchange rate on
export can be negated by the cost of imported material which go
into the exported products. A high currency value will "enrich"
our people, particularly in terms of buying imported luxuries
but our exports will not be competitive and the economy will
eventually be adversely affected.
Clearly the management of the exchange rate
is of extreme importance to the progress of our nation. There is
only a limited ability to manipulate. In the final analysis it
is how we balance our trade that will determine how our currency
is valued. Malaysia must learn to be competitive through higher
productivity rather than through manipulating exchange rates.
Again the people must understand their role, particularly with
regard to productivity.
In a world of high technology Malaysia
cannot afford to lag behind. We cannot be in the front line of
modern technology but we must always try to catch up at least in
those fields where we may have certain advantages. We have
already adopted a National Plan of Action for Industrial
Technology Development. This is the easy part. We must now
proceed expeditiously to the enormously difficult task of
implementation.
The Government will certainly provide the
necessary commitment and leadership to this national endeavour.
The institutional and support infrastructure will be put in
place to ensure rapid, realistic, focussed and market-driven
development of our technological capabilities. But let us never
forget that technology is not for the laboratory but the factory
floor and the market. The private sector and our people must
respond. Far too often the results of research are ignoured in
favour of the tried and tested moneyspinners. It has been said
that the secret of Japan's success is its skill in applying
research results to marketable products. If we don't do this we
are going to be left behind whatever may be the level of our
technology.
While increasing our industrial
manufacturing sector, Malaysia must make sure that our
agriculture and services sector will not be neglected. We must
advance. We must strive for efficiency, modernity and
competitiveness. These should be the key guiding principles of
our national policy towards agriculture, tourism and the fullest
development of the entire services sector.
Nor can we afford to neglect the rural
sector of our economy and society. In the years ahead, we must
work for a second rural development transformation,
restructuring the villages so as to be compatible with both
agriculture and modern industry. Less and less farmers should
produce more and more food, thus releasing manpower for an
industrial society.
While doing all these we must also ensure
that our valuable natural resources are not wasted. Our land
must remain productive and fertile, our atmosphere clear and
clean, our water unpolluted, our forest resources capable of
regeneration, able to yield the needs of our national
development. The beauty of our land must not be desecrated --for
its own sake and for our economic advancement.
In the information age that we are living
in, the Malaysian society must be information rich. It can be no
accident that there is today no wealthy, developed country that
is information-poor and no information-rich country that is poor
and undeveloped.
There was a time when land was the most
fundamental basis of prosperity and wealth. Then came the second
wave, the age of industrialisation. Smokestacks rose where the
fields were once cultivated. Now, increasingly, knowledge will
not only be the basis of power but also prosperity. Again we
must keep up. Already Malaysians are among the biggest users of
computers in the region. Computer literacy is a must if we want
to progress and develop. No effort must be spared in the
creation of an information rich Malaysian society.
In international relations, the emphasis
should be less on politics and ideology but more on economic
imperatives. Small though we may be we must strive to influence
the course of international trade. To grow we have to export.
Our domestic market is far too small. It is importent to us that
free trade is maintained. The trend towards the formation of
trading blocs will damage our progress and we must oppose it. We
must therefore play our part and not passively accept the
dictates of those powerful nations who may not even notice what
their decisions have done to us.
A country without adequate economic defence
capabilities and the ability to marshall influence and create
coalitions in the international economic arena is an
economically defenceless nation and an economically powerless
state. This Malaysia cannot afford to be.
There are many other policies that must be
in place if we are to make the 1990s the most economically
productive decade in our history. Let me end by mentioning just
one more: the necessity of making Malaysia Incorporated a
flourishing reality.
Let me stress not all collaboration between
our public and private sector is justifiable or productive. In
many areas there must be a long arm's length approach. But there
can be no doubt that a productive partnership will take us a
long way towards our aspirations.
What The Private Sector Must
Contribute
I have outlined what I think are the key
economic policies that should be in place to accelerate our
drive towards prosperity and a competitive economy. Let me now
stress the role that the private sector must play.
This nation cannot rely on the private
sector as the primary engine of growth if our private sector is
inefficient and lethargic. You must be strong and dynamic,
robust and self-reliant, competent and honest.
Malaysia cannot deregulate if bankers
eventually behave like banksters, if the freedom afforded to
enterprise becomes merely licence to exploit without any sense
of social responsibility. Our companies must have a high sense
of corporate duty. Our struggle to ensure social justice --to
uplift the position and competitiveness of the Bumiputeras and
to achieve the other social objectives --must be your struggle
too.
Privatisation must not proceed if its
objectives are defeated by those who think only of personal
profit without social responsibility . The Accelerated
Industrialisation Drive and the attempt to rapidly develop our
small and medium scale industries must be driven by the
enterprise of our entrepreneurs. They must be prepared to think
longerterm, to venture forth into the competitive world markets.
The attraction of foreign investment should not be the
responsibility of the Government alone. The private sector too
must engage the foreign investor in mutually beneficial
partnership and joint ventures for this will help him to
integrate more fully into the Malaysian economy. And the
responsibility of domestic investors must be greater than that
of their foreign counter-parts because Malaysia is our country,
not theirs. We can ask ourselves to make a sacrifice for our
country but we cannot expect foreigners to do it for us.
In the development of our human resources,
our private sector has the most important of roles to play.
Train your own manpower. Equip them for their changing tasks.
Look after their interests. Upgrade their skills. Manage them
well. And reward them for their contributions.
There is obviously a lot for everyone to do.
Unfortunately there is no simple one shot formula for developing
a nation. Many, many things must be done by many, many people.
And they must be done as correctly as possible. We must be
prepared to be self-critical and to be willing to make
corrections. But God Willing we can succeed.
Conclusion
This is the agenda before us in this Council and
before the nation. I hope you will discuss this agenda and criticise
or improve on it. Whether we achieve perfection or consensus on this
agenda is not absolutely important. No formula is perfect. But the
least perfect and the least productive is the perfect agenda
unimplemented.
