Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce
2022 AGM cum the 13th Term (2022-2025) Committee Election
18.06.2022
President Datuk Tan Yew Sing Speech
Good
morning to the central committee, state committee, members and friends from the
media.
1.
First of all, I would like to represent the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce
(MCCC) to send the best regards to all present today.
2.
Time flies. It has been 32 years since the establishment of MCCC. Last night,
we hosted an overwhelming gala dinner at Shangri-La Hotel attended by political
and business representatives, committee and members. Everyone was very
enthusiastic, and all the tickets were sold out. This is the first large-scale
banquet held by MCCC in more than two years since the outbreak of Covid-19
pandemic. I am very glad to see you all present.
3.
MCCC was established in 1990, and I joined in 2002. The late former chairman
Tan Sri Ngan Ching Wen is the person who led me the way and recommended me to
join the MCCC and supported me all the way.
4.
In the late 1990s, former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir proposed the East Asia
Economic Caucus, the goal of which was to establish a free trade area with 10
ASEAN countries plus China, Japan and South Korea. However, the proposal was
aborted because Japan and South Korea did not want to participate, the
initiative ended without a hitch.
5.
However, the then President Ngan had a great vision and led MCCC to hold a
three-day event, the ASEAN+China Cooperation Forum and Expo. Since I was the
President of INTI International University at that time, and I have been
actively involved in Chinese associations for many years, and I was also the
Deputy President while President Ngan led the KL & Selangor Chinese
Assembly Hall, We knew each other and cooperated well, so I was invited by him
to serve as the Organizing Chairman of this great event. I concur with his
philosophy, and without any hesitation i agreed to take on this vital and
meaningful task.
6.
After hosting this event in 2002 with more than 600 local and foreign
participants, I have had a deeper understanding about MCCC and subsequently
joined as a member. This forum was held only once. It was originally decided to
take a year off and resume it in 2004. However, when China announced that they
would hold the ASEAN China Expo in Nanning, Guangxi Province in 2004, MCCC had
considered that our historical mission had been completed and therefore did not
continue this event.
7.
In 2010, the leaders of MCCC foresee the upcoming of China economic development
is unpredictable and strongly believe that Malaysia-China trade investment has
great potential, hence decided to organize the Malaysia-China Entrepreneur
Conference and this year marks the 13th session of the Conference.
Ladies
and gentlemen,
8.I
consider there are three major achievements during my tenure include:
a)
Enhanced the organization culture and vision
In
2016, the board of committee implemented the empowerment mechanism so that
every working committee, state chapters, and every executive committee member
have the opportunity to take charge of certain responsibilities and develop
their talents. There are more than 30 provinces in China, and MCCC has 10 state
chapters. We encourage each state chapter to choose to connect with some
provinces in China to strengthen ties. For instance, Penang and Fujian Province
have always had close relations, hence the central committee decided to link
Penang chapter with Fujian Province directly. For all activities in Fujian
Province, the Penang chapter will be notified to participate and even to take
the lead.
The
working committees can represent the MCCC to develop various cooperation
projects. Of course, any agreements between organizations must be approved by
the central committee.
We
also encourage state chapters to set up Youth Entrepreneurs Committee and Women
Entrepreneurs Committee, which are our right and left arms and activate them,
but there are still room for improvement and more efforts are needed.
Nonetheless, the central Youth Entrepreneurs Committee and the Women
Entrepreneurs Committee had outstanding performances each in their own way
during this period. The central Youth Entrepreneurs Committee has held two
sessions of the Malaysia-China Young Entrepreneurs Conference (MCYEC), and is
currently actively planning the third session. The central Women Entrepreneurs
Committee has held many webinars and welfare activities, including Covid-19
pandemic relief, aid to flood victims, fundraising for Chinese education, etc.
b)
Enhanced the founding philosophy of diversity and openness.
The
founders of the MCCC were very forward-looking and positioned the chamber of
commerce as a diverse and inclusive organization that includes entrepreneurs of
all ethnic groups in Malaysia. We welcome all who are engaged in or are
interested in promoting Malaysia-China trade and economics to join. This
association is not a purely Chinese chamber of commerce. We encourage
entrepreneurs of all ethnic groups in our country to strengthen economic and
trade investment cooperation with China. For a chamber of commerce like ours,
many government departments such as the Ministry of International Trade and
Industry would view this chamber as a very distinctive and pragmatic chamber of
commerce. The foundation of Malaysia-China friendly relations is the
people-to-people bonds. We must promote the interaction between the people of
all ethnic groups in Malaysia and the Chinese citizens and businesses, not
limited to Malaysian Chinese who can communicate in Mandarin only.
During
my tenure, the central committee has valued the participation of non-Chinese
entrepreneurs. There are 8 non-Chinese central committees sitting on the board,
and some non-Chinese entrepreneurs are appointed as honorary presidents and
honorary advisors. The central committee meetings and public activities are
also conducted in bilingual as much as possible to bridge the language barrier.
We
organized a delegation of 1,000 people to participate in the exhibition in
Dongguan, Shenzhen a few years ago, of which about 300 were non-Chinese
entrepreneurs. The MCCC has always focused on promoting various Malaysia-China
economic and trade cooperation for the interest benefiting the Malaysians. Of
course, cooperation must be win-win situation. All Malaysian Entrepreneurs irrespective
of ethnicity agree with the work done by MCCC.
Traditionally,
our members were mainly Chinese, and it was not easy to find many Malay members
at the beginning. This year, we took the initiative to contact the Malaysian
Islamic Chamber of Commerce (DPIM) and formed a friendly partnership and to do
many activities together, including the fundraising activity of "Malaysian
Family" to help the flood victims earlier this year. This Islamic Chamber
of Commerce is also a multiracial organization, and its leadership also
includes Chinese Muslims.
c) During my term of tenure, the MCCC has
established a leadership with strong centripetal force and consensus. There are
two common criteria for evaluating the performance of an organization's
leadership. Whether the leaders have succeeded in shaping a shared organization
culture and established brand activities when they stepped down from their
positions.
The
continued success of an organization depends on its culture and vision, as well
as the succeeding leadership team that took over.
9.This
year, 41 candidates are running for 35 seats in the new central committee
elections. I see a lot of experienced committees as well as newcomers running
for the election. Witnessing the combination of old, middle and young people in
MCCC leadership is indeed very comforting. I hope that the new executive
committee should aim to perform better than the current term.
10.
By the time I stepped down, we have a shared organization vision, , a coherent
succession team and have established a strong brand activity. I hope such
report card of my 6 years presidency is satisfactory to my fellow members.
Distinguished
guests,
11.
In 2021, the EU announced the "Global Gateway" plan to invest 300
billion euros by 2027 to support the realization of global connectivity,
focusing on assisting the construction and upgrading of infrastructure in
developing countries.
12.
The U.S.-led G7 initiative to “Build Back Better World (B3W)”, these global
infrastructure projects are all with strong ideological inclination and
undoubtedly are aimed at countering
China’s increasingly influential “Belt and Road” initiative, which is not in
line with the trade internationalization mega trend.
13.
As for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which was
implemented earlier this year, and the expansion of the Comprehensive and
Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), these two regional
structures seem to be more effective in enhancing international trade and in
reshaping supply chain security.
Future Economic Trend and The Way to Deal With It
14.
Facing the triple blow of the impact of the epidemic, the economic downturn and
the unclear political situation, our country’s economy will still be in the cold
winter season in the coming year, facing many difficulties. In this tough
environment beyond the control of various businesses, everyone should respond
in three steps: to survive, to restore vitality and continue to operate, but
also have to start to develop a layout for future development. Whether it is to
improve the competitiveness or service quality in the traditional industries,
or new fields, new products and new business methods, these efforts should rely
on new technologies and new markets. To face this difficult business challenge,
there are three strategies I would suggest:
a)
Act according to your ability and pay attention to cash flow.
b)
Develop new ideas and enhance new business networking.
c)
Pay attention to the new trends leading the future, go globalize.
15.
Malaysia's economy has fully reopened, and social activities have resumed. This
is the time for businesses to be involved in the economic recovery. As I have
always mentioned, the Belt and Road Initiative, RCEP and CPTPP will bring more
opportunities and potential to our businessmen, especially providing a huge
platform of development for Malaysia-China trade and investment. Therefore,
everyone should have a thorough understanding of the above relevant agreements
to seize the opportunities.
16.
I hope that everyone will join hands to usher in the post-epidemic recovery
period, take advantage of the momentum to seize new opportunities, and help to
restore prosperity to this country. Once again, I would like to thank the
central committee, state chapters, Youth Entrepreneurs Committee, Women
Entrepreneurs Committee and members for their continuous cooperation and
support, and I also wish the candidates for the 13th term central committee
election all the best.
Thank
you!
