Wednesday February 11, 2004

PM: Asia at a crossroads of sorts

Speech by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at Agenda Asia

LET me begin by thanking the organisers, Asia News Network and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, for inviting me to say a few words at the Agenda Asia conference. It is a great pleasure for me to be able to address such a diverse and distinguished audience.

I have been asked to speak on what I think are some of the key challenges that face Asia – what the Asian agenda should be.

As you would appreciate, to share my thoughts on such a broad and open-ended topic is a fairly daunting task but perhaps this is an opportune time to reflect on this issue because it seems as if current trends and events are placing Asia at a crossroads of sorts.

The global economic environment is changing so fluidly that many of us are compelled to grapple with the implications of an increasingly liberalised trading system.

Adjustments need to be made to reposition our respective economies in a business environment that is increasingly borderless.

In addition, Asia must also make internal adjustments to accommodate the growing significance of two giant economies – China and India.

I am confident that the rise of these two important markets will be a power for good for the rest of the continent. Still, it remains for the smaller economies in the region to figure out how to re-align themselves in order to remain relevant and competitive.

These dynamics are being played out in the aftermath of the1997 financial crisis, an event which threatened to take away our prosperity, threatened to tear the fabric of our societies and severely shook our confidence.

Thankfully, almost all of us have fully recovered or are at least in the process of recovering. There is still life in the Asian economic miracle but there is still some way to go before its lustre is fully restored.

We are still taking baby steps in rediscovering the self-belief and sense of destiny that propelled the rapid, sustained and unprecedented economic growth.

Other unforeseen exogenous factors have also added to the atmosphere of uncertainty. The issue of transboundary terrorism that was brought into stark attention following the terrible events of Sept 11 continues to be a source of concern.

Epidemics, such as the SARS virus last year and the more recent cases of avian flu threaten our well-being and imperil our economic stability.

Even domestic, political developments in the region seem to imply a sense of transition and renewal given that several general elections are due to be held this year. A number of leadership transitions have already occurred, including in China and here in Malaysia.

Ladies and gentlemen, if it is true that Asia is in a transitory phase, if it is true that we are facing a crossroads, then it would be useful to evaluate Asia’s current standing in the global order.

If we did so, in an honest candidly and dispassionate manner, we would acknowledge that Asia is capable of doing much better.

Asia still suffers from poverty and deprivation, from enormous income disparities that cause destabilising social tensions. Much of Asia still remains untapped, awaiting the moment when its massive resources – natural and human – can be unleashed for progress and development.

In this light, the Asian agenda, in my view, should be no less than the comprehensive emancipation of the men, women and children in this great continent.

The Prime Minister receiving a token of appreciation from Star Publications group managing director and CEO Datuk Steven Tan after delivering his keynote address at the Agenda Asia conference.

It is the political, economic and social development of every country in Asia and their inhabitants. It is an Asia at peace with itself and with the rest of the world. It is a continent freed from the shackles of the past and assuming a dignified place alongside the leading continents of the world.

This is a destiny that befits a continent that has provided a cradle for humanity and civilisation for five thousand years.

I realise that this is an utopian ideal. The reality remains that it will be a long time before every nation becomes developed and there will always be a number of people in every country who will remain on the margins.

But Asia must aim high and the goals I mentioned are wholly achievable. Other continents, namely Europe and North America have achieved this and surely Asia is capable of following suit.

I am equally mindful that the road ahead will be difficult for many countries. There are enormous obstacles. Some of us will slip and stumble along the way but I have unshaken faith in the peoples of Asia. They will eventually triumph and fulfil their hopes and aspirations.

Asia is a big place, home to three-fifths of the planet’s population.

Unlike other continents that have achieved a measure of integration, Asia’s nations and peoples are not homogenous.

We are made up of different ethnic groups and adhere to different religions. Our respective governance, economic and legal systems cover a broad spectrum. Our levels of development are at wildly different levels.

Asia’s agenda will therefore be commensurately enormous, and commensurately diverse.

Japan’s agenda will be completely different from Sri Lanka, Vietnam’s from Indonesia. We must be duly cautious about generalisations as we look at the big picture and focus on the most pressing continental issues.

Ladies and gentlemen, against this background, I would like to highlight four strategic and fundamental challenges confronting Asia.

First, it is imperative for us to focus our attentions on eradicating poverty. Asia has a number of relatively affluent nations.

Some of the world’s most dynamic economies are in Asia. However, anyone looking at Asia cannot ignore its multitudes of poor.

It is estimated that about one in every five Asians, close to 600 million people suffer from the effects of poverty.

Hunger and even famine are still common occurrences in some countries. Therefore, it would be a tragic omission if Asia does not place poverty eradication at the very top of its agenda.

The good news for Asia is that it is indeed making great progress in this sphere, if only because countries like China and India, the two nations with the largest number of poor, are making impressive strides in developing their economies.

Nonetheless, much work remains to be done in these and other countries and the challenges are enormous. As usual, the burden often weighs greatest on those countries that are

least able to shoulder it.

Many Asian countries missed out on the industrial revolution. We were seen mainly as suppliers of raw materials and natural resources to the furnaces and factories owned by our colonial masters. Even after achieving Independence, we could not actively participate because we lacked the funds and the capacity to do so.

Now the information age is upon us. Information technology and telecommunications are bringing us closer together and allowing us to accomplish tasks more quickly and efficiently.

These advances and innovations are enabling leaps in productivity that we never thought possible. It has been proven that ICT can be a new source of prosperity.

However, if we allow the information age to pass us by, then the digital divide will be a new source of poverty.

It is therefore vital for us to work together and build capacity, so that our poor, the ones who are most in need of a helping hand, will not be further left behind.

Ladies and gentlemen, a second critical challenge involves human development. Any programme to eradicate large-scale poverty must involve the wider issue of human development.

We must focus not only on raising income levels, critical though this is because it is the key to enjoying a better quality of life.

We must also tend to satisfactory access to good education and high literacy, adequate health services, and clean water, to cite just a few of the core requirements.

These considerations are not only restricted to countries with large numbers of poor, they should be matters of concern for all of us.

To date, only eight Asian nations are deemed to have “high human development,” a classification by the United Nations Development Programme that measures a country’s achievements in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income.

Nations pursuing economic prosperity cannot ignore their most valuable resource – their own people.

As we progress and embark upon knowledge-driven growth, the cultivation of our human resources becomes even more critical.

We must be prepared to foster a quality education system supplemented by skills training and life-long learning facilities, we must be prepared to allocate the unavoidably substantial resources required for the purpose.

In every country, education and skills development will be the key to human and economic development.

Once we have developed our infrastructure and built the hardware, it is equally important to concentrate on developing the “software.”

We cannot achieve high human development without the resources required to develop the various sectors critical to it.

These resources can only come primarily from the development of our economy.

At the heart of human development therefore is economic growth and economic prosperity and any nation that does not give the utmost priority to achieving prosperity, prosperity that is equitably shared across society, will not achieve high human development.

Ladies and gentlemen, the third critical challenge facing Asia, to my mind, is the need to develop good governance structures – by the state, by the private sector and by civil society.

Of the three, the most important will undoubtedly be good governance by the state. Despite the diminution of its role as a result of the empowerment of non-state actors and globalisation, the state remains the most powerful and most influential force, a force that has the greatest capacity to act for good as well as for bad.

Good governance involves many things.

Governments dedicated to the welfare of the people and serving them, efficient and responsive delivery systems, financial prudence, government, business and society free of corruption, transparency and accountability, businesses with a healthy social conscience and not solely fixated upon profit making.

Fostering the right values and norms, formulating just and effective laws, and building healthy and working institutions are fundamental to good governance.

Asia has much to do in this field, for many of our nations are still young as independent, sovereign entities and we are still in the early decades of nation-building.

Asia’s agenda should therefore concentrate on developing systems that can deliver the economic and social goods to the people.

There is no cookie-cutter approach for achieving this. There is no common mould that every country can use. A system that works well for one country may fail miserably in another. Each country and its people must be allowed to find the path best suited to them.

Ladies and gentlemen, the fourth challenge for Asia is to ensure regional peace and stability. Rare indeed are the parts of Asia that enjoy peace and stability.

Many countries in Asia are still vulnerable to ethnic and religious tensions, autonomy and separatist pressures, and militancy and terrorism.

In the external sphere, our borders are less settled than those in Europe, which effectively settled them through two bloody wars in the last century.

In this light, our agenda must allow for the peaceful resolution of all boundary and territorial disputes, on land as well as at sea.

We must similarly work hard to peacefully resolve the issue of divided states and territories. We must address in particular the Palestinian issue for it has seriously destabilised regional and global security.

A lack of trust and confidence, a legacy of past wars and occupation as well as present disputes, still bedevil regional relationships in some parts of our continent.

We must work towards building trust and confidence, focusing on the future rather than dwelling on the past.

We must continue to bring about the reconciliation of Asia, by extending the hand of amity and rejecting the spectre of enmity.

Our best hope for an Asia at peace with itself and with the rest of the world lies in the pursuit of a two-pronged approach.

One is the addressing of root causes of tensions and conflicts at home and between states. The other is through the strengthening of a regional and global architecture for peace and security.

One that is founded upon respect for international law and norms, co-operative security.

We must build and foster networks of bilateralism and multilateralism that complement each other and discard the option of crude militarism to resolve disputes.

Ladies and gentlemen, I am confident Asia possesses the building blocks for success.

We have ample natural resources and an ample population. We can be guided by a rich heritage of culture and civilisation, as well as an impressive recent history of economic growth. Surviving years of conflict and colonisation are testament to our resilience and fortitude.

Asia is now a truly independent continent and its destiny is in its own hands.

We have the opportunity to shape the future. Let us grasp this opportunity and make Asia’s agenda an agenda for growth and progress, an agenda that empowers our people to become active and productive players on the world stage.

Thank you.

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