Dr Mahathir warns Malaysia to prepare for another financial crisis

(Bernama) – Malaysia needs to be ready to face another world financial crisis which was expected in the face of escalating prices and reduced purchasing power.

Former prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamed (pic), said the country should formulate strategies based on past experiences and find the causes of the crisis.

“With current and past financial crises, we should dissect them and in turn get ideas on how to prepare ourselves to overcome them,” he told a media briefing after the Perdana Leadership Foundation International Roundtable on Surviving the Next Global Financial Crisis in Kuala Lumpur today.

He said the first stage would involve understanding the mechanics and once it was achieved, the crisis could be dealt with.

“I am a former doctor and the way we should approach it, should be like a doctor,” he said.

Meanwhile, the roundtable discussed ways to overcome a financial crisis and the findings will be forwarded to the government.

The roundtable is organised by the Perdana Leadership Foundation and sponsored by YTL Corp, Malaysia Airlines, Buna Puri, Westports, AmBank, UEM and Bank Rakyat.

The participants include Senator Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar (Minister in Prime Minister’s Department – Economic Planning Unit), Tan Sri Azman Mokhtar (Khazanah Nasional managing director), Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop (Khazanah Nasional deputy chairman), Tan Sri Azman Hashim (AmBank chairman), Tan Sri Francis Yeoh (YTL managing director), Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik (Bank Rakyat chairman), Tan Sri Azman Yahya (Symphony Life chairman/group chief executive officer), Tan Sri Jawhar Hassan (ISIS chairman), and, Datuk Mohaiyani Shamsudin (Maybank Asset Management).

Meanwhile, Dr Mahathir said he was saddened by the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines MH370 since March 8.

“It is strange that it can’t be detected through satellite with 20 nations assisting in the search and rescue operations,” he said.