LAWATAN YB TAN SRI DATO' HJ. MUHYIDDIN YASSIN KE BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA

SPEECH BY
HON TAN SRI DATO' HJ MUHYIDDIN HJ MOHD YASSIN
FORMER DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA

"FOSTERING COOPERATION, BUILDING PEACE:
20 YEARS OF PEACE IN BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA AND THE WAY FORWARD"

AT THE INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE - 20 YEARS OF PEACE:
A WAY FORWARD

SARAJEVO
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
21 SEPTEMBER 2015

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamu’alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh and good afternoon.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

1. First, I would like to thank Perdana Global Peace Foundation, BBI VIP Business Club and Malaysia-Bosnia & Herzegovina Business Club for inviting me to speak at the International Peace Conference - 20 Years of Peace: A Way Forward. It is an honor and privilege for me to address such a distinguished audience at this conference today.

2. This conference is held to commemorate 20 years of peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I must praise the leaders and the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina for it is due to their continued commitment to peace and stability that this country has transformed itself into a peaceful and vibrant nation today. With US$18.4 billion GDP and US$4,770 GNI per capita in 2014, Bosnia and Herzegovina prides itself as an upper middle income economy in Europe

3. I must also praise the international community for it is due to their role and tireless effort in restoring peace and rebuilding Bosnia that this country has become a peaceful and vibrant nation today.

Tun Dr Mahathir’s Contribution

4. Bosnia is very close to the hearts of the Malaysian people. This is mainly due to the role our former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, assumed in the restoration of peace in Bosnia. Malaysians still remember that when the civil war broke out in Bosnia, Tun Dr. Mahathir was among the first world leaders to spearhead an international effort to save Bosnia. With his strong determination to end atrocities and restore peace in Bosnia, Malaysia was among the first nations to lend political support to Bosnia and joined peace-keeping forces in this country. Let us give Tun Dr Mahathir a round of applause.

5. There were moving stories about our Bosnian brothers and sisters who arrived in Kuala Lumpur in the early stage of the Bosnian conflict to seek shelter in our country. We warmly embraced them as our guests and some of them had grown up in Malaysia and considered Malaysia as their second home. As a Minister in Tun Dr Mahathir’s cabinet then, I remember the Malaysian government decided to accept young Bosnians into Malaysian universities. They were very bright and intelligent and many of them have been very successful in life. One of them is Mr Amir Bukvic, the son of the late Mr. Ibrahim Bukvic, a former Bosnian Ambassador to Malaysia. Mr Amir was a former student at the International Islamic University Malaysia and now a successful banker. Through his Co-Chairmanship of Malaysia-Bosnia & Herzegovina Business Council, he has contributed immensely to promoting business and trade cooperation between Malaysia and Bosnia.

Sharing Malaysia's Experience

6. There are indeed striking similarities between Malaysia and Bosnia. Both countries are multi-racial and multi-religious. Hence, managing race relations has been the cornerstone of Malaysia’s success as a nation, and I believe it is also as important for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

7. Now, allow me to briefly share with you our unique Malaysian experience in managing race relations. After gaining independence from the British in 1957, as a young nation then, our past leaders knew that building trust among major ethnic communities and maintaining racial harmony is crucial to our long term stability and growth. They realized that without racial harmony, there will be no political stability, and without political stability there will be no economic development and growth.

8. But the truth is, creating and maintaining racial harmony in an ethnically divided society was not easy. There were suspicion and prejudices among the different ethnic communities in the early days of independence. Political observers then were quite pessimistic about the future of Malaysia as a multiracial country, and some even predicted that racial and religious violence would soon erupt and Malaysia would in no time be doomed to failure.

9. But our past leaders were so determined to prove them wrong. So, in the early years of independence, they focused their efforts on building trust among people of different races and fostering national unity in our nascent multi-racial society. Of course the task was monumental. Each ethnic group aspired to have greater share in politics, economy and society and started to put forth conflicting demands. They hoped that their leaders will do their biddings.

10. However, the leaders had limitations too. They cannot be seen as too compromising or too weak at the negotiation table otherwise they will lose their community’s support. But at the same time, they must concede to certain demands from other ethnic groups in order to maintain political cooperation. Otherwise, the multi-ethnic political coalition would break and they would all lose political power.

11. The survival of the political coalition as well as the maintenance of political stability rest on the wisdom of each leader to gain the trust of his own race and at the same time forge true understanding between the leaders of different races. For the greater good of maintaining racial harmony and political stability, they had to agree to share political power, to concede on certain things and sometimes to withstand mounting pressures from their own community. They had to emerge as a coalition of the moderates whose primary concern is not only to safeguard the interests of one particular race, but also to respect the legitimate interests of all races.

12. And thanks to our electoral system, though our major political parties are mainly race-based, no single party can form national government by solely depending on the support of a particular race. Any political party which aspires to form national government must be able to garner broad-based support from all races. The electoral system discourages political parties from pursuing extreme racial and religious interests. It incentivizes the moderates and punishes the extremists.

13. Because the electoral system incentivizes the moderates, Malaysian political parties have over time moderated their position on matters concerning racial and religious interests. Political parties that question the special position of the Malays and the natives of Sabah and Sarawak will do so for their own perils. They will of course lose the majority support of the electorates. Likewise, political parties that undermine the legitimate inteterests of the other races will risk losing significant percentage of votes in elections and will fail to form national government. In the end, most political parties become more compliant to the constitutional framework that seeks to balance racial interests, and in so doing promote racial harmony, political stability and national unity.

The Way Forward for Bosnia and Herzegovina

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

14. I am not suggesting that Bosnia and Herzegovina should follow in the footsteps of Malaysia. Though there are similarities between both countries in the nature of race relations, there are also striking historical and cultural dissimilarities. There is no one-size-fits all political model in managing ethnic and religious diversity, but at least in one important aspect, there is a common thread that runs through all multi-ethnic societies in the world. It is the symbiotic relationship between racial harmony, political stability and economic development. As I said earlier, and I would like to reiterate here, without racial harmony there will be no political stability, and without political stability there will be no economic development and sustainable growth.

15. In this context, much has been said about the Dayton Accords as a general framework for the promotion of national unity and political stabil
ity in Bosnia. Indeed, it has immensely contributed to ending the Bosnian conflict and I believe there are potential rooms for improvement in realizing its ultimate goal to promote greater inter-ethnic cooperation and nation building.

16. Even though some have observed that the Dayton Accords is an unfinished business as far as nation building is concerned, never be apologetic about it. The Malaysian Constitution is also saidto be an unfinished business as far as national unity and nation building is concerned. Don’t worry about it because nation building everywhere in the world is an unfinished business. It has been and will always be work in progress. But for leaders, it is most important for us to ensure that nation building is progressively unfolding and that it does not stall.

17. I believe, as long as leaders can sit together to discuss and reach agreements on contentious issues concerning the interests of different ethnic communities, and committed to preserving peace and stability, the people's aspiration for the creation of a truly united, stable and prosperous nation will become a reality. Most important is the spirit of understanding, cooperation and acceptance among leaders. Yes, constitution provides basic framework for a nation to grow, but leaders are the ones who give meanings to it, and make it workable and functional.

18. Crucial to the creation of a stable nation is leaders' commitment to the principles of good governance, accountability, social justice, economic well-being, racial harmony and religious tolerance. Other than these, issues that the people think most important to them such as health, education, employment, public safety and poverty eradication need urgent attention of the government. These are important indicators of the legitimacy of the government. Once the government delivers on its commitments, the people will trust that the government has the legitimacy to rule and they will continue to support the government.

19. Before a government can deliver on its commitment, there must be political stability. Without political stability, many things that a functional government can do to promote the interests of the people cannot be done by the government. So, I sincerely hope that Bosnian leaders can work together to create and maintain political stability in this country so that the Bosnian government can deliver on all of its commitments to the people of Bosnia.

20. These include capacity building and economic well-being of the Bosnian people. Yesterday I had a chance to meet with Bosnian business leaders from many sectors including banking and finance, wood and furniture, food, retail and agriculture. I thank His Excellency Fadil Novalic, Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, for taking time from his busy schedule to attend the meeting. I see there are great potentials for Bosnian companies to grow even bigger in all these industries. What they need to do is to find the right partners and form profitable joint ventures to expand their business in and outside Bosnia. These companies can work with reputable Malaysian companies to tap into the Asian markets and likewise, Malaysian companies too can use Bosnia as a gateway to sell their products in Europe. I believe, with the government's support for a pro-business policy, we can together assist Bosnian industries to unleash their great potentials and build the capacity of Bosnian people to develop their own country.

21. Malaysia too can offer Bosnian investors opportunities for investment in our 12 national key economic areas namely greater Kuala Lumpur; oil, gas and energy; financial services; wholesale and retail; palm oil and rubber; tourism; electrical and electronics; business services; communications content and infrastructure; education; agriculture; and health care. I am hoping to see that bilateral trade and investments between Malaysia and Bosnia to increase significantly from the current level so that we can contribute more meaningfully to the economic success of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

22. Before all these can be achieved, we must ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina enjoys political stability. 20 years after the Dayton Accords, I do hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue its long journey to become one of the most politically stable and economically vibrant nations in Europe. As a friendly nation, Malaysia hopes that we can continue to be part of Bosnia's journey to greater progress and rapid growth.

23. Beyond economic cooperation, there are great opportunities for collaboration in the area of education and culture. We already have strong collaboration in the area of education where Bosnian students are currently pursuing tertiary education in Malaysia. This can continue while both countries find more ways to strengthen our ties.

24. I believe the Malaysian government will continue to offer assistance to Bosnia and Herzegovina through Malaysia Technical Cooperation Programme (MTCP) of which this country has been a recipient since 1995. As of 2014, 165 officials from Bosnia and Herzegovina had attended various short-term courses under the MTCP. These included diplomacy, crisis management and taxation. Bosnia and Herzegovina was also included as one of the recipient countries of the Malaysian Defence Cooperation Programme since 2003. I sincerely hope that Bosnia and Herzegovina will continue to adopt an open and forward looking foreign policy so that many more countries can contribute to the future development of this country.

Conclusion

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

25. I once again would like to thank the organizer for inviting me to speak at this important conference. It is an honor for me to be able to share with you some of my thoughts on fostering cooperation and building peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina. I pray that the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina will enjoy everlasting peace, unity and prosperity under the collective leadership of Bosnian leaders.

Thank you.