Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2019 in Bangkok on November 2 (Photo: WATN) Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to leverage on its large population base as a more integrated market to achieve greater economic growth.
He made the remark while addressing the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit 2019 in Bangkok on November 2, which was part of the ongoing 35th ASEAN Summit.
According to him, ASEAN is not making full use of a combined population of some 650 million. Meanwhile, China achieved a significant growth during the past four decades as the country made full use of its large population as a huge market.
He also called for greater integration and cooperation among the 10 ASEAN member countries in facing the challenges brought by new technology.
PM Mahathir said the 10 countries, each with different ideas and different needs, should overcome their differences. If they do that, they will be able to benefit from the new technologies, and their economies will also grow much faster and maybe they can catch up with some of the other developed countries./.
VNA
