9:04 AM Nov 19, 1996

REJECT INVESTMENT ISSUE, URGES MALAYSIAN PM

Kuala Lumpur 19 Nov (TWN) -- Malaysia Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, has called on developing countries to reject the proposed multilateral investment agreement (MIA) or a discussion on the trade and investment issue at next month's Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization at Singapore.

Dr. Mahathir said: "Developing countries must reject this proposal; otherwise they will be colonized by the Western world. This is what the developed countries intended."

The Prime Minister said this "wish to colonise" had never diminished. "They still want to control the world."

Dr. Mahathir's comments, reported in the Malaysian press this morning, were made at a press conference upon his return from an overseas trip.

According to the Business Times, the Prime Minister said the proposal to liberalise the tele-communications and finance sectors, for example, would enable the industrialised countries to dominate these critical sectors.

Asked about the possibility of industrialised countries using arm-twisting tactics to make some developing countries agree to the MIA, Dr. Mahathir said while this was true, "the Group of 15 countries has decided to reject the MIA idea."

"I have spoken to them during the G15 Summit (held in Zimbabwe earlier this month) and they share our opinion," he added.

Malaysia is the current chairman of the G15 and will host the G15 Summit next year.

Dr. Mahathir had been asked to comment on a proposal by some countries -- led by Japan, Canada and the EU -- to get the WTO Ministerial Conference to set up a WTO working group to discuss trade and investment.

Malaysia and seven other countries have issued a joint statement at the WTO to reject this proposal. They are concerned that the proposed working group would be a prelude to negotiations for multilateral investment rules.

Such an investment agreement, Malaysia has said, would give transnational corporations expansive powers to enter any country and be treated local firms. Governments would lose their ability to regulate foreign investments and their economic sovereignty would be eroded.