Perdana Leadership Foundation (PLF) and The New Club of Paris (NCP) will organise a Round Table in Kuala Lumpur on 15 June 2010 and Public Dialogues on 16 June 2010 focusing on knowledge economy.  Below is the press statement by PLF-NCP, in conjunction with the media briefing that was held on 1 June 2010 at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, featuring Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (Honorary President, PLF),  Tan Sri Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob (PLF’s Executive Director) and Tengku Dato’ Dr. Azzman Shariffadin (Liaison for New Club of Paris).

———————————————————————————–

Press Statement released on 1 June 2010

The time is ripe for the structural transformation of the Malaysian economy into a knowledge economy and the Government has launched a raft of transformation initiatives as important steps towards this end.

As a means of synchronising these initiatives with the emerging global knowledge community, we have invited The New Club of Paris to jointly organise with the Perdana Leadership Foundation a Round Table in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday 15 June 2010 followed by Public Dialogues on Wednesday 16 June 2010.

Round Table: Bridging the Knowledge Divide – Building the Malaysian Link

Tuesday 15 June 2010

The Perdana Leadership Foundation, helmed by YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, will be the main organiser of the Round Table. 8 representatives of the Club have confirmed their attendance (their brief resumes enclosed) to be complemented by Malaysian experts with deep knowledge and experience of the country’s challenges and aspirations.

Sessions which will be covered during the day-long Round Table include:

-          What is the nature of the economy of intangibles, and why is it important for Malaysia to make the leap to this economy?

-          How do we build Malaysia’s capacity to bridge the knowledge divide, and become a hub for a global national and international link for knowledge in development?

The Round Table is an emerging but already proven instrument used by The New Club of Paris experts to successfully engage with high-level policy makers (the Prime Minister of Finland, the Moroccan ONA Foundation, the Austrian Government, the City of Shenzhen in China). The Kuala Lumpur Round Table will take advantage of the experiences of The New Club of Paris, who are experts in different cultural and societal settings.

The New Club of Paris was created as an international forum which actively promotes the ideology of a knowledge economy operating within a knowledge society. They recognise that the knowledge economy has an impact on the value creation process, fundamentally altering the organisation of work, creating new forms of borderless cooperation and intercultural exchange and their manifesto concludes:

“In the new understanding of the knowledge society & economy they will engage in a development driven by imagination, creativity and courage towards better intellectual, cultural and social conditions and towards a sustainable, dynamic economy.

…we support all movements and projects towards better education (systems), more vibrant innovation (systems) and better understanding of the imminent knowledge society and economy.

We appeal for higher investments in brains rather than bricks, thereby avoiding misallocations in investments.”

The proactive engagement process of the Club has been successful in building strong international alliances and co-activities with many institutions (including the OECD, the World Bank, METI-Japan, BNDES Brazil and the European Investment Bank).

Through the Round Table, the Perdana Leadership Foundation and The New Club of Paris hope to have laid the groundwork for the development of a knowledge economy and knowledge society in Malaysia. Activities planned for the 2 days (15 and 16 June 2010) will raise awareness of the benefits and challenges faced by all stakeholders within our national innovation ecosystem.

Our Prime Minister, YAB Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, has been invited to attend the closing session of the Round Table on Tuesday 15 June 2010.

The Ministers who have been invited to attend the Round Table are YBhg Datuk Seri Dr. Maximus Ongkili, YBhg Dato Sri Mustapa Mohamed, YBhg Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz and YBhg Dato’ Seri Idris Jala.

The Executive Director of the Perdana Leadership Foundation, YBhg Tan Sri Nik Mohamed bin Nik Yaacob, observes, “We are honoured to be hosting members of the New Club of Paris for this Round Table. With the government of Malaysia placing renewed emphasis on innovation as a key driver of economic growth, the Round Table session will allow us to gain a deeper perspective and understanding of the issues surrounding the creation of a knowledge-driven high income society. We also hope that the recommendations of the Round Table will be useful to policymakers in government”.

According to YBhg Tan Sri Nik Mohamed, the New Club of Paris will prepare an official report containing their recommendations to the host institution following the Round Table, a copy of which will be presented to the Prime Minister’s office.

The President of The New Club of Paris, Mr Leif Edvinsson, agrees and adds “I have been very impressed with the pioneering implementations of Malaysia for many years, including Vision 2020. The New Club of Paris is honoured and grateful to be invited to this Round Table for the further knowledge-sharing dialogue of the leadership challenges and opportunities in the Knowledge Economy for the benefit of Malaysia.”

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Click here to read the news of the Media briefing