Malaysia Continues to be Active in UN, Advocating Global Peace and Security

By R.Ravichandran, Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz, Samantha Tan KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) – When the world celebrated the United Nations Day on October 24 this year, Malaysia had all the reasons to celebrate as well. With more than 55 years of active contribution to the peacekeeping missions of the United Nations, beginning with its participation in the peacekeeping operations in Congo between 1960 and 1963, Malaysia has over the years, not only made tremendous contributions to the UN’s security operations worldwide, but has also grown as a steady voice in the UN advocacy for human rights, and equitable economic development globally. Whatever the issues, from the Palestine plight to the fight against the former South Africa’s Apartheid regime, nuclear proliferation, support for the liberation of the oppressed, fight against any form of war and violence, the Rohingya situation and calls for fair trade and support for refugees, Malaysia has expressed its views without fear or favour at the UN platform. Marking its 61st anniversary this year as a UN member, having been admitted into the international body in September 1957, shortly after gaining Independence on August 31st the same year, Malaysia has to-date participated in 36 UN peacekeeping duties. This has seen the deployment of over 35,000 of its military and police personnel in the countries served including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Namibia and Somalia. And in some countries, the impact of the troops’ services has had left some long-lasting and strong impressions. Bosnia and Herzegovina Ambassador to Malaysia Emir Hadzikadunic said that Malaysia was one of the largest contributors for UN peace keeping missions among Asian countries, and based on Bosnia’s own experiences, Malaysia was also a model for many other countries in the context of peacekeeping.  “I have met and spoken with Malaysian military men who have served in Bosnia.There is true friendship between them and the Bosnian people. These friendships have continued for decades. It means they were well accepted, well received. They served with passion, accountability and they were there at the most critical time of our history,” he said in an interview with Bernama recently. He pointed out that Malaysia was also involved in the peace building after the war, following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995 which brought an end to the Bosnian War. “This was actually a more important phase because as we all know Bosnia is one of the most successful peace building cases internationally. There is a great contribution from Malaysia and its leadership in this peace building story immediately after the war,” said the ambassador. Hadzikadunic said, internationally one of the strongest voices at the time come from the Malaysian leadership, which provided strong political support through its voice at the UN for the Bosnian cause at the time where many UN resolutions were violated and international humanitarian law were very much abused.  Prominent political scientist Dr Chandra Muzaffar said that apart from the peacekeeping missions, which have been Malaysia's biggest contribution to the UN, the country has also contributed in monetary terms to its humanitarian efforts such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Administrative Science and Policy Studies, UiTM Sabah, Dr Asri Salleh said that if he were to put Malaysia’s contributions to the UN in two words, they would be peace and economic development. He pointed out that Malaysia was a small power in international politics, and hence its contribution in the UN would have to reflect its structural power within the international system. “So, Malaysia centres its contribution where it matters the most. That is one of the reasons that drives Malaysia to be one of the most active contributors to UN Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) around the world.  "This is of course not surprising. As a matter of fact, small and developing countries make up the largest troops contributors to UNPKO with the advanced countries providing the finance,” he said. Associate Professor at the School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) Dr. Benny Teh Cheng Guan, said that despite being a small and newly independent country, Malaysia did not hesitate to participate in its first ever peacekeeping mission in Congo in 1960, as Malaysia saw the importance of the UN role in managing world peace. He pointed out that over the years, Malaysia’s involvement has grown to take on other roles such as becoming a non-permanent member of the Security Council, a UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Myanmar (Razali Ismail) and membership on the UN Human Rights Council.  He noted that Malaysia also actively contributes to the UN regular budget, steadily increasing its financial contribution from US$1.4 million in 1994 to US$8.6 million in 2018. Meanwhile, Dr Asri said Malaysia has been always seen as one of stronger voices for the Third World and developing countries, be it the Palestinian issue, world economy disparity or international peace. Along this line of international activism, Malaysia gets to promote common principles and values, and of course, its own economy although this does not necessarily underpin Malaysia's international activism, he said. Dr Chandra said that by joining the UN, Malaysia has also benefited greatly through the programmes run by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UNESCO among others. "Lets not forget that the UN often sets certain standards and by subscribing to those standards, we are improving ourselves, we are raising our own levels, whether it is in terms of healthcare or education or environmental protection," he said. By joining peacekeeping missions, the armed forces were also exposed to other situations, and hence the opportunity to directly and indirectly upgrade their own skills and knowledge.  Dr. Benny Teh said the UN provided Malaysia with a valuable international platform to voice its concerns ranging from the adverse effects of globalisation to institutional reforms and economic injustices.  "This was rather profound during the fourth premiership of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. As an active proponent of South-South cooperation and a leading voice of the Third World back then, he highlighted shared grievances that not only gained the respect and support of other UN member countries but also, I believe, paved the way for Malaysia to be elected to key positions at the UN," he said. Dr Asri said the challenges for Malaysia as a member of the UN were many and the most challenging one was how best to get the permanent members of the UN to act on certain issues fairly and equally. He said Malaysia has little comparative advantage in terms of financial and military powers as opposed to many other countries. "Thus, garnering sufficient international (support) for causes that Malaysia is championing has always been a daunting task. Next is Malaysia has to struggle against the structural deficiency of the UN itself. For the past 70 years or so, reforming the UN continues to pose challenges for Malaysia and other member nations. Dr Benny Teh said one of the challenges would be to meet or achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). "Illegal logging, uncontrolled deforestation, poor public transportation, income inequalities and the building of sustainable cities would be some of the concerns at the top of my mind that Malaysia needs to address," he further said. The UN Day, which has been celebrated since 1948, marks the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. Since its establishment, the UN have witnessed a mixture of successes and failures. By joining the UN, which now has 193 member states, Malaysia has also gained immensely through the world body, especially by implementing projects and programmes related to its various agencies The first United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD)  in Asia which is based in Subang, is another  example of Malaysia’s strong commitment to UN, in the context of humanitarian aspect. Malaysia also hosts the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Services Centre (GSC) in Cyberjaya, which started its operations in July 2008. -- BERNAMA KAZAKHSTAN RACING TOWARDS DEVELOPED NATION STATUS By Sakina Mohamed KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 (Bernama) -- Kazakhstan, in its bid to become one of the 30 developed countries in the world by 2050, is looking into developing economic competition by getting utilities tariffs and natural monopolies under control. Tariff setting and spending of consumers’ money were still not transparent in the field of utilities and regulation of natural monopolies, said its president Nursultan Nazarbayev during the recent state address. “We lack the efficient monitoring and control over investment obligations of monopolies. “The government needs to address this issue within three months and reform the anti-monopoly agency, significantly strengthening functions for competition protection,” said Nazarbayev during the address. He has also called for the protection of business from unlawful administrative pressure and criminal prosecution threats. “I am instructing to raise from January 1, 2019, the threshold of criminal liability with regard to tax violations up to 50,000 MCI and increase fines. “In addition, we need to reorganise the Service of Economic Investigation by transferring its functions to the Financial Monitoring Committee that should be focused on the fight against the shadow economy,” he said. He is also calling for more active trade policies. “I am instructing the government to allocate an additional KZT500 billion to support the manufacturing industry and non-commodity export in the next three years,” he said. Labour productivity and export of processed agricultural products will also be increased 2.5 times by 2022. Cognisant of the need to develop areas of the “future economy” such as big data, alternative energy and artificial intelligence (AI), Kazakhstan will be establishing a think-thank for the development of AI technology with the Nazarbayev University. The Kazakh government is also reviewing priorities of budget expenditures focusing on the social sector, security and infrastructure in its bid to provide better quality and access to education, healthcare and housing. “To make education more accessible, the government is allocating KZT 50 billion from the republic’s budget for 2019-2021 to support regions facing the biggest deficit of school places and problems with three-shift schools or those in critical condition,” he said. All hospitals and clinics will also be switching to paperless digital medical documentation from January 1, 2019 to allow for the creation of electronic health passports for the whole population. The passports will eliminate queues and bureaucracy, and improve the quality of services by 2020, said Nazarbayev. The republic is also looking into providing affordable housing as well as beautiful and safe working and living environments. As such, it is taking measures to help more than 250,000 families improve their housing conditions. “Taking into account the construction of utility infrastructure for massive housing areas, in five years the state will have helped 650,000 families or more than 2 million of our citizens,” he said. All cities of Kazakhstan would also be equipped with public security monitoring systems to create a “public trust and a sense of security among the population”. In addition to reviewing the remuneration system for civil servants, Kazakhstan will also introduce measures to actively fight corruption. This includes decreasing direct interaction of civil servants with the population when providing public services. “In 2019, 80 per cent of public services must be digitalised and in 2020, at least 90 percent,” Nazarbayev said. He said that one of the issues Kazakhs were concerned with was the red tape around land and construction dealings. “This area lacks transparency, requiring full access for the population and business to information. Create a single information database on land reserves and real estate properties. We need to take this issue under control and give land to real investors” he added. The republic also recognises that a proactive foreign policy was necessary for the successful modernisation of Kazakhstan. “A comprehensive strategic partnership with the China has been gradually developing. The One Belt - One Road programme has given a new impetus to our relations with China. “During my January official visit to Washington and negotiations with President Donald Trump, we reached an agreement on an enhanced strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and the USA in the 21st century. “We will also continue our dynamic collaboration with the EU as our biggest trade and investment partner. Mutually beneficial bilateral ties with CIS countries, Turkey, Iran, Arab and Asian countries have also been advanced,” said Nazarbayev. Over 18 million people live in Kazakhstan, with life expectancy reaching 72.5 years. The country has raised over US$300 billion in direct foreign investment over the past 20 years, and is currently ranked 28th among 190 countries in the World Bank's Doing Business index. -- BERNAMA