Welcoming Remarks for YBM at The Look East Policy- A New Dimension & MAJECA - JAMECA 31ST Conference, 10 October 2012

Prime Minister of Malaysia

Distinguished guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. A very good morning to you. Welcome to this Conference. I would like to begin by recording our thanks to the Honourable Dato' Sri Najib Tun Razak for accepting this invitation to deliver an address on the Look East Policy.

2. This Conference is a joint Public-Private Sector initiative between the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority and the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association. It also enjoys the strong support of JACTIM and JETRO. I would also like to record a special thank you to MAJECA and JAMECA for their many years of support.

3. This Conference celebrates the 30 th Anniversary of the Look East Policy. Some of you may remember that the policy was first enunciated by Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamed on 8 February 1982 at the Annual Conference of MAJECA/JAMECA in Kuala Lumpur. Much has happened since, of course, and we will have the opportunity here to review how the LEP programme has been articulated over the last thirty years and what it has achieved.

4. I do not want to pre-empt this discussion, but I am aware that there is a large body of opinion which is of the view that the Look East Policy was the right policy for Malaysia at the right time, that it has brought much benefit to the countries involved, and that we should focus now on launching a second wave of LEP programmes.

5. I am sure there is going to be some robust discussion about this subject. But even as we engage in this dialogue, let remind ourselves of the context in which the policy was launched 30 years. In the eighties, if you will recall, we were still in the early stages of our modernization programme. Our manufacturing sector was just beginning to come into its own, and we still relied on agriculture and the export of commodities to drive our growth.

6. Today, we are a fast developing, emerging economy. The World Economic Forum ranks us the 25 th most competitive nation in the world. We have been recording respectable growth year after year. Last year our GDP grew by 5.1%. This year we expect it will be between 4-5%. We have launched an economic transformation programme of unprecedented ambition. And even have the confidence to assert that we will become a developed nation by 2020.

7. So Malaysia 2012 is quite different from Malaysia circa 1982. We are now a more developed nation, a more confident people. The challenges we face now are different. Our expectations are also different. So how relevant will a Look East Policy be in these circumstances?

8. To examine this question of relevance further, the Conference organisers have invited a list of distinguished speakers to give us some insights into what's happening in the so-called East. Many of these speakers will be talking about issues like innovation, technology and skill development. That gives you some indication of the issues which are deemed important in the 21 st century.

9. The panellists include Mr Mark Rozario, Chief Executive Officer of National Innovation Agency of Malaysia, Mr Kimihisa Kitamura, Managing Director of Kawasaki Gas Turbine Asia Sdn Bhd, and Mr Tetsuro Kobayashi, Senior Managing Director of the Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association. We look forward to hearing from them.

10. We have a very interesting agenda ahead of us, ladies and gentlemen. I thank you for your participation and wish you a successful meeting.