Malaysian PM defends developing countries

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DEVELOPING nations should not be blamed when in their efforts to catch up with developed nations, they end up losing, says Malaysia Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.
He said previous models in trade, economy, governance and politics could no longer be followed.
Some nations were still trying to figure out what went wrong with them, he told Apec CEO Summit on board the cruise liner Pacific Explorer on Saturday.
“We have to deal with what seems to be inevitable – the age of disruption, in particular of technological disruptions,” he said.
“More to that, in the age of disruption, we are expected to adjust our strategies and practices so as to be able to deal with the radical change.
“Today, the age of disruption, or simply disruption, seems to be accepted, as the catchall phrase for transformative change.”
The 93-year-old leader said digitalisation, robotics, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, advancement of automation and the other new technologies were bringing about sweeping changes, affecting the way people lived and do business.
“In Malaysia, like in many other countries, we are already being reminded of the effects of disruptive technology,” he said.
“The displacement of taxi drivers to e-hailing taxi apps (applications) resulted in protests and demonstrations.
“Hoteliers complained of losing their clientele to home-sharing platform.
“Brick and mortar companies complained of losing clientele to online retailers.
“These scenes are repeated in other countries, of those who losses out to new technology player.”
Mahathir, who led a coalition to an unexpected victory in Malaysia’s 14th general election a few months ago, said the common factors in every strategy to increase market share were low-cost operations and productive manpower.
“We can expect more disruptions ahead when we become more automated, with unskilled and even skilled workers becoming less and less relevant.
“If unattended, it will cause employment crisis and upheavals.”
Mahathir said the challenge now was to ensure that no one was left behind in the age of disruption.
“Some will be slow on the uptake while others will be faster. But once we understand, the pace will certainly increase.”
He warned nations not to allow disruptions to widen inequality which would be bad for growth and social stability.