Dinner In Honour Of H.E. Gerhard Schroeder The Chancellor Of The Federal Republic Of Germany 
Seri Perdana, Putrajaya  12 May 2003 
It is a privilege and an honour to welcome YourExcellency and your distinguished delegation to KualaLumpur. Your Excellency's visit affords me the opportunityto reciprocate the very warm hospitality my delegation and Ireceived when we visited Germany in March 2002. Also thisis the first time ever that a German Chancellor has visitedMalaysia.
2. I hope, Your Excellency would get a better insight intoMalaysia's multicultural diversity and our development,which had gained much from German expertise and interest.
3. I regret that your business people are not in yourdelegation. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is not athreat in Malaysia. W.H.O has not put us on their list. Ihope German businessmen would come later. Last year Germanywas the biggest investor in Malaysia. We are keen to seemore German investments for the mutual benefit of our twocountries.
4. Since our last meeting in March 2002, the state of theworld has been steadily deteriorating. Today the economy ofthe world is very sluggish. In addition we the smallcountries now live in fear, not just of terrorists but alsofrom unilateral actions by powerful countries. We can expectno protection from international organisations like theUnited Nations (UN) since powerful countries like the UnitedStates and Britain can attack Iraq without the sanction ofthe UN.
5. When international law and conventions are ignored bythe very people who formulated and promote them, then therewill be international anarchy. Weak nations cannot now beexpected to submit to international laws and conventions iftheir security is threatened.
6. I would like to congratulate you for the veryprincipled stand that Germany under your leadership tookover the invasion of Iraq. We are much heartened to seethat your country and a few European countries still believein the UN and international consensus. We look up to youand other like-minded countries to restore confidence in theUN and in International Law.
7. Malaysia believes that the present tension and turmoilin the world have their roots in the decision to expropriateArab Palestinian territory in order to create the state ofIsrael. Ever since then there has been no stability orpeace in the Middle East. And now that instability hasspilled over to every corner of the world. It is certainlythe cause for worldwide terrorism that we see today.
8. We should really be trying to identify the causes ofthe Palestinian / Israeli conflict and to remove them. Butinstead we see an attempt to out-terrorise the terrorists inorder to deter them. Now countries are being threatened andinvaded even though there is no proof of their involvementin terrorism.
9. The attack against Iraq is seen by the Muslim world asan attempt to terrify Muslim countries. But terrorists arenot under the control of Governments. Neither are theyalways in their own countries. They may be anywhere, in theUK for example, and as desperate and angry people they willnot be deterred. The war against terrorism will not besuccessful even if all Muslim countries are subjugated. Asfighters for freedom they will physically oppose theircolonisation.
10. The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome hascreated havoc with the economies of East Asia and the world.New diseases are appearing more and more frequently now.HIV - Aids, Mad Cow disease, Ebola, Japanese Encephalitisand resistant strains of dengue, malaria and tuberculosisare among them. Our responses to these outbreaks have beenhaphazard. There is real danger for these diseases and newones to spread worldwide causing immeasurable damage.
11. We can logically expect more new diseases to appear.The world needs to formulate a strategy and to be wellequipped to deal with new diseases. Money must be expendedon centres for the early detection, and the curbing of thesediseases. It would be a good thing if a fraction of thefunds expended for weapons development is reallocated forthe setting up of centres worldwide to respond quickly tothese new diseases.
12. Your visit to Malaysia has amply demonstrated Germany'sdesire to strengthen the bonds of friendship for the mutualinterest of both our countries.
13. Allow me once again to extend a warm welcome to YourExcellency and to your distinguished delegation. Yourvisit, albeit brief, has given new emphasis to our bilaterallinkages. I remain confident that these ties can onlyimprove and move forward in the future.Thank you.