BEIJING: Asians must reject minor cosmetic changes in the Western banking system and develop new systems instead.Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said a recovery did not prove the Western monetary and financial systems were right and must be maintained.
“Whatever the results, we must critically examine the present system,” he said in his lecture titled, The Global Financial Crisis of the 21st Century – Lessons for Asia at the China Centre for Economic Research of Peking University.
Stressing the present crisis was due to systemic failure, he added: “If the West insists on retaining the present system with only minor cosmetic changes, Asians must be ready to reject them, if necessary. “Asians must learn and convince themselves that they have the ability to formulate and develop new systems which will not be so easy to abuse.”
Believing that the Asian economies were very strong and would grow stronger with time, Dr Mahathir said, their influence on the world economy was enormous. “Systems developed by Asians should be taken seriously, and if good, should be accepted by the world. Dr Mahathir urged Asians to develop new banking systems which would not be given the power to create unlimited money. “Asians have the same capacity to think and innovate and they should be prepared to put up and defend their proposals for the world financial and economic reforms. “But having said this, Asians must also be prepared to hear and consider proposals coming from others.” He cautioned that the results would not be perfect even after systemic changes, and so measures to examine or correct any shortcomings or failure to curb any abuse must be maintained.
Also present at the lecture on Wednesday were Malaysian Ambassador to China Datuk Syed Norulzaman Syed Kamaruzaman, Peking University executive vice-president Prof Wu Zhipan, Peking University’s Office of International Relations deputy director Pan Qingde and the Malaysian students from Peking University.
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1 comment:
Dear Mahathir
No matter how we condemn the US, it was the US who sustained our export economy. When the US is sick, we too will be sick. An export driven economy and depending too heavily on the US has pricked us. But, who else do have the buying power as great as the US? No country. This is where we failed, Tun. We can talk till the cows come back, but until today its the US that has helped many developing countries sustain their economy. We just have to accept this, Tun. We cannot depend on Indonesia or China or Japan for that matter. Let's be more wise. Wisdom is wiser than politics and sentiments.
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