Daily Times

Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad Saturday said enhanced people-to-people contacts and exchanges by promoting tourism are vital for strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation between Pakistan and Malaysia in diverse areas, including trade, economy and investment.

“Pakistan has a lot of natural resources, so as Malaysia and the countries can complement each other,” he said in a television interview.

The Malaysian prime minister, who concluded his three-day state visit to Pakistan on Saturday, said he was happy over the visit, which provided him an opportunity to interact with the Pakistani leadership and identify the areas of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

He mentioned peace and stability coupled with the measures of promoting tourism as prerequisites for any country to achieve economic progress and development.

Dr Mahathir mentioned the huge number of tourists attracted every year to Malaysia, which has only 32 million population, and said as he feels comfortable during his stay in Pakistan, which has all the ingredients to promote tourism and tap its potential.

Besides punishments, he said the menace of corruption could also be tackled by promoting ethical and religious values in the society. He, however, added that leaders must not be corrupt, if they are, then it is very difficult to check the menace.

To a question about Islamophobia, the Malaysian prime minister said, “Islam being a religion of peace taught us not to fight, kill or indulge in violence. We need to find out what we have done wrong.” At the same time, he said media should not be allowed to be used by the people who have no knowledge about Islam.

Dr Mahathir also spoke about how his country, which is an agrarian society, achieved socio-economic progress and development through increased industrialization by attracting local and foreign investors. He said for industrialization, foreign investors were offered various incentives, which later enabled his country’s people, who acquired technical kills and know-how by working with foreign companies, to establish their own industries.

He said the promotion of technical education, skill enhancement and knowledge-based information and technologies is very important for industrialization of any country, including Pakistan.

Dr Mahathir left for his homeland on Saturday on the conclusion of his three-day official visit to Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan saw off the Malaysian leader at the Nur Khan Airbase.

Before the departure, the Malaysian prime minister was given a briefing about the light-weight, all-weather and multi-role JF-17 Thunder fighter aircraft. He evinced keen interest in its various qualities.

Dr Mahathir, who was presented with a flying jacket on the occasion, also inspected the cockpit of a JF-17 Thunder and was briefed about its technical details by the officers of Pakistan Air Force.

Published in Daily Times, March 24^th 2019.