Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Monday globalization should benefit all while stressing that Malaysia was not anti-globalization. Mahathir admitted that foreign investments and free trade had contributed greatly to the country's growth.
"Malaysia is concerned with the equitable sharing of the benefits of globalization and does not want the process to be dictated or the pace be forced by any group in the global village," Mahathir said in a keynote address at the opening of the 35th General Meeting of the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC) held in Kuala Lumpur. "Global trade rules should be strengthened with the aim of providing a predictable, fair and stable multilateral trading system," he said.
However, the rules should not erode the competitiveness of up-and-coming countries like Malaysia or other countries, he said. "The globalization, if properly interpreted and regulated, can bring about a great deal of wealth and benefit to the world, the rich as well as the poor," he observed.
Mahathir said that the important thing was to focus on the results rather than the dogma.
"If the results are good, then by all means implement it, but if the results are bad for anyone, then globalization must be re-examined, reinterpreted and modified until the expected results are achieved. The important thing is the end not the means," he added.
The two-day PBEC meeting, attended by some 700 delegates from 20 economies in the region, will discuss how to bridge the divides between them, how to rebuild confidence in a post-September 11market and how to partner with China for economic growth.
(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2002)
