Cooperation vital for countries to ride out economic woes

SERI KEMBANGAN: The MalaysiaChina Business Council has called for cooperation among countries especially in view of uncertainties with the trade war between China and the United States.

“With the rampant growth of geopolitical conflicts, trade protectionism and extremism, we need to compete with these negativities with constructive positivity,” said council chairman Tan Kok Wai.

“Only cooperation and mutual benefit would pave the way to success in the long run,” he said, adding that the old thought of zero-sum game, and the idea of gain and loss, should be eliminated.

Speaking at the World Chinese Economic Forum (WCEF) held here yesterday, Tan, who is also Malaysia’s special envoy to China, said the Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative was a tremendous strategy of cooperation and mutual benefit.

It would contribute enormously to peaceful development globally, he said.

In his speech, Tan highlighted the importance of overseas Chinese participating in the development of the B&R Initiative.

“According to statistics, there are about 60 million overseas Chinese, of which more than 40 million are residing in countries along the B&R route, especially Asean countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.”

He said there are about seven million Chinese in Malaysia.

“Besides China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, Malaysia provides the most holistic Chinese education. We are in a prominent position to collaborate with China in terms of language and cultural exchange,” he said.

The WCEF is an international flagship event that provides a platform for strengthening and building connectivity and business linkages between South-East Asia, Europe and China.

It also brings together the global Chinese diaspora and promotes entrepreneurship and innovation through business networking and sharing of knowledge.