Download Opening Speech by Dato` Seri Haji Mukhriz Tun Mahathir

Opening Speech by Dato’ Seri Haji Mukhriz Tun Mahathir
Chief Minister of Kedah Darul Aman
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim
His Royal Highness Prince Bandar Bin Salman Bin Mohammed Al Saud
Chairman
Madinah Knowledge Economic City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Prof Dr Noor Azizi Ismail
Secretary General
World Association of Business Schools in Islamic Countries
Official Delegates from State Government of Kedah Darul Aman
Distinguished Speakers and Participants
Ladies and Gentlemen
Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Ladies and gentlemen, I am deeply pleased to be in this prestigious event,
and honored by the presence of many distinguished guests, academicians,
businessmen and public figures.
First, let me congratulate and commend the organiser of the Convention The World Association of Business Schools in Islamic Countries (WAiBS), and
the host, Madinah Institute for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (MILE), for
nurturing this important gathering, in the Holy City of Madinah. I am deeply
honored to be invited to officiate this event, the 2nd Convention of WAiBS,
following the success of the Inaugural Convention of WAiBS, launched by my
father, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia, in
2012.
With the theme ‘Enhancing Sustainable Growth in OIC Countries’, this
Convention is timely especially amidst the crumbling Western models of
business and the greater awareness of the World on the plight of the
disadvantaged people and underprivileged countries, who unfortunately,
come mainly from the Muslim nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, sustaining the growth and development in the global
economy has now becoming more challenging. Many OIC countries are
experiencing difficulties. From the economic perspective, recent OIC Annual
Report (2013) shows the performance of OIC countries is still lagging behind
other countries. There are substantial gaps between OIC countries and other
countries, and also between OIC countries, as evidenced by the imbalanced
ratio of OIC countries in the least developed, low, middle, and high income
category nations.
Of 57 OIC countries, 21 (of World’s 48) are classified as least developed
countries, 18 as low-income, 32 as middle-income, and 7 as high-income
countries. Looking deeper, according to IMF Report (2013), most (18) of OIC
countries in the upper-middle and high-income categories are fuel-exporting
countries. Hence the prospects of growth and development are dependent
mainly on the production and export of oil and gas.
In terms of Gross Domestic Products (GDP), in 2012, OIC countries contributed
only 11.3% of the World GDP. The average GDP of the OIC countries stands at
USD5,900 in 2012. Furthermore, the total output and trade of the OIC
countries are also heavily concentrated in a few countries. In 2012, 10
member countries accounted for 72.9% of the total GDP and 76.6% of of the
OIC countries total merchandise exports.
In terms of labour productivity, an average worker in OIC countries produces
less than one-third of the output compared to the world level. OIC member
countries are also experiencing higher inflation and umployment rates,
enduring problems of poverty, excessive debt burdens, etc. These problems
are further worsened by regional and global financial crises, and other
complicated and burdensome issues.
There are many factors that may contribute to the poor economic
performance of the OIC countries. One crucial factor is education. Education
is the cornerstone of human capital formation and is central to the
development of a society. A pool of competent entrepreneurs, managers
and leaders are important to drive economic growth and sustainability.
Ladies and gentlemen, let us now look at the education aspects of OIC
countries. In 2010, the average government expenditure on education in OIC
countries was 3.8% of the GDP, compared to 4.5% of other developing
countries, 5.1% of developed countries, and 5.0% of World. The Gross
Economic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) for OIC countries was only 2.1% of the
World total compared to other developing countries (9.4%), developed
countries (10.4%), Japan (10.9%), China (12.3%), EU (23.2%), and USA (31.7%).
In terms of Human Resources in R&D, the average number of researchers per
million people in OIC countries is only 457, compared to the World average
at 1,549. For comparison, Singapore has 6,953 researchers per million people,
South Korea (7,179), EU (4,651), and Iceland with the highest number at
13,101. Only six OIC countries have more than 1,000 researchers per million
people (in descending order): Tunisia, Jordan, Turkey, Iran, Azerbaijan and
Egypt.
In terms of scientific articles published in international journals, the number of
articles published by 57 OIC countires is only equivalent to one country like
Germany, England and Japan. The good news is, the number of articles
published have increased by four fold from 20,224 in 2000 to 92,503 in 2010.
However, it is dominated by only five countries (Turkey, Iran, Malaysia, Egypt
and Pakistan) that account for 70% of all articles published.
Looking at the innovation aspect, OIC countries are again lagging other
countries. OIC countries accounted for only 1.7% of estimated 1.98 million
patent applications filed in 2010 compared to USA (24.8%), China (19.8%),
Japan (8.6%), South Korea (8.6%), Germany (3.0%). In terms of Hi-Tech export
(HTE), 57 OIC countries contributed only 4.2% of the World total compared to
Singapore (7.2%), Japan (6.9%), South Korea (5.3%), China (23%), EU (32%),
and USA (8.3%). Malaysia accounts for nearly 81% of the total HTE of the OIC
in 2010, followed by Indonesia, Khazastan and Turkey.
Despite the poor performance of OIC countries, we can see that some
countries have optimistic experiences to share, and from which useful lessons
can be drawn to shape the future economic scenario in other OIC countries.
These scenarios signify the importance of this Convention to generate
essential inputs to our efforts towards securing better and sustainable
economic growth of OIC countries.
In this regard, I believe business schools can play an important role by
imparting relevant knowledge and skills to students, and importantly, by
nurturing not only responsive but also responsible future business leaders. This
can be achieved via smart partnerships between business schools,
government agencies and corporations. Despite the “brains” that business
schools can provide, they will not be able to work effectively without strong
support and commitment from the government agencies and private
sectors. Therefore, striking a common ground between the three parties
should be established as they are, by nature, different in perspectives,
orientation and outlook.
For example, whilst the private sector should realize that social activities and
programs to assist the needy and the disadvantaged may not able to help
them make profit in the short-term, the long-term benefit is numerous. In this
context, a socially responsible corporate organization is one that not only
makes money but also the one that builds bridges and relationships. Business
schools, on the other hand, should not merely think of themselves as the
noble gatekeepers of knowledge but more importantly as important agents
of social change.
I believe WAiBS can play an important role in bringing Muslim scholars to work
together in as many areas as possible toward the common goal of assisting
the Muslim people uplift their life and ultimately restore Muslim dignity and
identity on the World stage. To do this, it is imperative that Muslim scholars put
aside their differences and work in concert for the sake of Islam. There may
be sibling rivalry, nonetheless, true Muslim brothers and sisters do not sever
their relationship with one another. It is within this spirit that I hope the
Association can play its role in consolidating strategic initiatives of various
business schools in OIC countries toward the accomplishment of this noble
purpose.
Ladies and gentlemen, without doubt, Muslims have a long way to go before
we can regain respect and admiration from the rest of the World, as we used
to command before. The foundation of WAiBS is, I believe, a move in the right
direction. Muslim scholars in business schools, with the strong support from
relevant government agencies and corporations, have so much to offer
back to the community, as part of their social responsibility. The days of
Muslim academics and scholars working in isolation from the realities are
obsolete; they need to go down to the ground and experience for
themselves about what is happening at the grassroots level. In this way, they
can offer their expertise to help solve pressing issues faced by the Muslim
World today. Their knowledge and perspectives can enrich our way of life
based on the principles of Islam and better models of understanding the
realities could be offered, as a viable alternative to the existing Western ways
of seeing and doing things.
Taking this opportunity, I wish to mention about the steady increase in intraOIC trade in the course of the recent years. Like many other OIC countries,
Malaysia, and in particular the State of Kedah, offers plenty of business
opportunities supported by dynamic business environment, technological
advancement, well-developed infrastructure, and our greatest assests,
human resources. Therefore, I would like to invite investors to visit our beautiful
country, Malaysia and the State of Kedah.
Last but not least, I wish to congratulate again the efforts made by WAiBS for
being able to bring together various Muslim scholars from business schools in
Islamic countries to discuss ways on how to uplift the Muslim ummah toward
greater heights. Being the Chief Minister of the State Government of Kedah,
where Othman Yeop Abdullah Graduate School of Business, Universiti Utara
Malaysia (UUM) is located, I am proud to mention the initiative taken by the
university (together with other five co-founders) to established WAiBS. My
appreciation also goes to the support of the private sectors that are moved
by the cause and hope that many more private sectors will come forward
and join this noble effort.
…Bismillahirrahmanirrahim…I hereby officially launch the 2nd Convention of
the World Association of Business Schools in Islamic Countries (WAiBS).