Former Malaysian premier delivers lecture on planned development at SQU in Oman

Muscat: Former prime minister of Malaysia, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, delivered a lecture on planning at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) on Wednesday.
The lecture, themed "Strategic Planning from the Malaysian Experience Perspective" was delivered in the presence of Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, SQU Vice Chancellor, academics, employees, students and interested persons.
Honourable Dr. Said bin Mubarak Al Mahrami, Dean of the College of Economics and Political Science, Member of the State Council, presented a short profile of the lecturer.
Dr. Mahathir said that in Malaysia, they first started planning for five years as a first stage and then they thought of becoming an advanced country within 30 years. This was in 1990.
He added that developing countries have good research centers and a range of programs to increase economic growth. He said that the developing countries seek to maintain political stability. "If the country is not stable, there will be no achievement and no progress," he added.
He explained that stability must be linked to understanding the challenges facing a multi-ethnic country and that Malaysia has a great difference in ethnicity. "To overcome this obstacle, we had to understand how to live with each other and how to work with each other," he affirmed.
Dr. Mahathir touched on many other important aspects that played a key role in the establishment of the Malaysian economy state.