The Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, delivered the Closing Keynote Address at the Forum yesterday, titled, “Malaysia Inc 2.0: Government and Business Delivering Growth and Development” in which he elaborated on the key components of Malaysia Incorporated, and emphasised the need for business leaders to be forward-looking to keep up with the rapid changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
The three main components of Malaysia Inc are:
First, the need for the public and private sectors to work with each other in a spirit of mutual support and understanding to achieve a common goal, which is the prosperity and growth of Malaysia.
Second, the need to realise that growth and prosperity should not come at the expense of the welfare of the citizens of the nation. The human and social needs of Malaysians must be protected.
Third, the need for regular interaction and communication between the private and public sectors.
The revival of Malaysia Incorporated is to drive home the point that Malaysia needs both private and public sectors to work together to become a fully developed nation.
Following his keynote address, YAB Tun answered questions from the floor with his customary wit and style.
The questions were on Malaysian work ethics (in short: can be improved), an International Advisory Panel (IAP) (tech billionaires like Bill Gates are now difficult to reach, but the government is always open to listening to tech moguls and other world leaders of various sectors to learn from them), the way forward for GLCs and State-Owned Enterprises (some may have departed from their original objectives), whether Malaysia is playing catch-up with the rest of the world on 4IR (the real question is whether people benefit from any technological advances), and even questions on robotic nurses (No, thank you!) and genetics (advances in science must be accompanied by strong moral values, and these are currently sadly lacking).
The full text of YAB Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s speech can be accessed here. We will also be publishing notes of the Forum’s sessions on this website over the next two weeks, so check back often!
