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Najib Asks Chinese To Play Leading Role In National Development [ 23-08-2010 ]
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun
Razak on Saturday called on the Malaysian Chinese community to play a
leading role in helping the country to become a high-income economy.
He said they must play that role through economic innovation in genuine partnership with the other communities.
"Through these genuine partnerships, we can attain our goal towards
equitable distribution of the nation's wealth. We must do this if we are
to achieve our potential and sustain the progress and prosperity we
have enjoyed thus far.
"Our faith in Malaysia requires a long-term investment in the future,"
he said when opening the Chinese Economic Congress on "The Role of the
Chinese Community in Achieving the New Economic Model (NEM) and the 10th
Malaysia Plan (10MP) Targets", here.
MCA President Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and other MCA leaders were present at the event.
Najib said the government was working to broaden opportunities for all Malaysians.
He also called on the public and private sectors to work together and
utilise the talents of all diverse communities to achieve the national
goals.
All parties, including the government, must encourage genuine
partnership between bumiputera and non-bumiputera communities to keep
the nation moving forward, he said.
"We must do this because we recognise that diversity is a core strength
and the source of creativity and innovation needed to grow our
economy," he said.
Najib also said that the government could not make all the necessary
changes alone without the participation of and cooperation from the
private sector.
"The private sector plays a vital role in driving the innovation,
creativity and investment that are needed to boost Malaysia s global
competitiveness and support our goal to become a high-income nation," he
said.
The prime minister also urged the congress to discuss how the private
sector, including the Chinese business community, could be transformed
to be another pillar of national growth and development.
Najib said private sector transformation was also urgently needed
because the economy could not expand without its committed and positive
participation.
He said that to achieve the Vision 2020 goal of becoming a developed
nation by that year, the nation needed to be united, strong and
resourceful.
"We must trust in our own abilities and drive transformation at the
core to ensure a better future for ourselves and for our children.
"We (the government) have provided the means to do this through the
Government Transformation Programme (GTP), the NEM and the 10MP," he
said.
Earlier, Dr Chua, in his speech, said he hoped that the congress would
come up with resolutions on how they could move the Chinese and Malays
through genuine partnership.
At a news conference later, Dr Chua said that to achieve Vision 2020,
the various communities must work together to make the nation a
high-income economy to ensure that the country could compete at the
international level.
"We only want to be fair to bumiputeras, and smart partnership is a
necessity. As the prime minister suggested, we do not want an 'Ali Baba'
concept whereby as we know, for example, many Class F contractors are
incapable of competing with big and established companies.
"We do not want a situation where only one community progresses. We
want similar opportunities for bumiputeras, and this is why we have
proposed genuine partnership," he said.
He said that to achieve developed nation status, fair distribution of the economic cake and affirmative action were important.
"Everyone should benefit from the fruits of national development, and no one should be marginalised," he said.
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