Manufacturing new era for Egypt

Mohamad Mahathir Cairo – Akram Ali Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir stressed that “Egypt is considered an example to the whole of the Middle East, especially after the 25th January Revolution took place, which inspired the uprising of Arab nations thereafter. “ Speaking in regards to transferring the Malaysian economic experience to Egypt, Mahathir said: “Malaysia totally depends on manufacturing at present, whereas it depended on agriculture two decades ago. Egypt should depend on manufacturing after the Revolution as well. They used to largely depend on tourism in the past decades, but that’s a risk, a the industry is unstable and could become disrupted.” When asked about corruption in Malaysia and how he dealt with it as prime minister, Mahathir pointed out that, “Corruption has to be dealt with smartly, even if you’re under pressure. You have to deal with it wisely and give it time if you are to completely eliminate it. If you take radical measures, it won’t take long to rid the system of it.” He continued by asking, “What causes a citizen to bribe someone? The difficulty of processing procedures by deviant employees who demand a bribe to do their job are the cause. Those people must be firmly dealt with.” His opinion on Egyptians wishing to quickly try the “symbols of corruption” he said: “the trial should take its course as what the judge sees appropriate, but the same time no extra time should be spent on one trial because that will provoke the nation and cause another round of protests against slow process. However, you must take your time to guarantee full justice.” Regarding his evaluation of the government of Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf, Mahathir said that, “This is an internal issue that I cannot offer my judgment. The most important thing Sharaf’s government should work on is reaching stability as soon as possible, and ensuring the delivery of what is asked from it, in addition to spreading democracy.” On his idea of the way Egypt will be able to get out of its current crisis it faces, Mahathir said that “Egypt has to pinpoint its weak and strong points before attempting to move forward. Do we have strong points in education, weak point in manufacturing and so on. Does it want to be an manufacturing or agricultural country, this way it will get on the right track after extensive specific studies.” His views on Egypt’s relationship with Israel were ones of surprise as he commented that “Malaysia has no relations with Israel and I am surprised that Egypt, at the time of ex-President Hosni Mubarak, agreed to ban the delivery of medicines and food to Gaza, it is something I cannot explain to this day, however in this short period we may witness many changes to this relationship.” Mahathir called on the Egyptian government to look at all democratic experiences around it in the world, not just Malaysia’s. They should review Indonesia, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and others who went through the same experience and got past it. Each one of these now has a strong economy.” Mahathir stressed the importance of education, as he believes it is the only tool that can truly advance a country that desires to develop its economy whether it is agricultural or in manufacturing. He pointed out that Malaysia spends 25% of its annual general budget on education.