WELCOMING SPEECH BY DR RAMEEZ ON THE TOURISM PROGRAMME IN SANTIAGO, WEDNESDAY EVENING (2/12/2015) AT THE EMBASSY OF MALAYSIA - TO KNOW MALAYSIA IS TO LOVE MALAYSIA
Greetings
Ladies and gentlemen,
Friends of Malaysia
First and foremost, please allow me to take this opportunity to bid all of you Selamat Datang (Bienvenido) to our Program known as Conocer Malasia Es Amar Malasia (to Know Malaysia is to Love Malaysia).
Speech
2. I will begin my speech with a brief background of Malaysia. Malaya (before the formation of Malaysia) gained independence from British on 31 August 1957. The European Colonization in Malaya started since 1511. The first European Colonizer was Portuguese. Second colonizer was the Dutch followed by the British.
3. The Federation of Malaysia was officially established on 16 September 1963 after the signing of the promulgation decree by our first Prime Minister, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj.
4. Malaysia, with a land of 329, 847 square kilometers and population of 30 million people, located in the heart of Southeast Asia is a place like no others. Malaysia is separated into two parts by the South China Sea: Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and Sarawak, blessed with multiracial society, diverse cultures, beautiful islands and beaches, rich with flora and fauna, and untouched rainforest, Malaysia offers countless attractions to the tourist.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Malaysia is truly Asia.
5. Why? It is simply because we have everything. If you are interested to know about Asian food such as curry, you don’t have to go to India, if you like to watch dragon / lion dance, you don’t have to go to China and if you like to see wild animal such as tiger, crocodile, snake, you don’t have to go to Indonesia, so where should you go? All you need to do is, pack your luggage and come to Malaysia. In Malaysia you can easily find variety of Asian cuisines, Asian cultures, and Asian architectures and anything with regard to the Asian society.
6. If you wish to stay with friendly society, 24 hours restaurants, 24 seven entertainment, modern cities with high technology, the untouched flora and fauna, Malaysia would be the best destination that suit to your vacation plan.
7. Malaysia is a secured country and the safest place for tourist to visit. According to Global Peace Index 2014, Malaysia and Singapore are the only two Southeast Asia countries that have been listed within the top five in the Asia Pacific group ranking.
Ladies and gentlemen
8. The Government of Malaysia recognises the importance of tourism industry. Therefore, the Government of Malaysia introduced numbers of initiatives to attract more tourists to visit Malaysia. Last year, we have the Visit Malaysia 2014 program, and this year we have the Year of Festivals program. We will continue our effort in promoting Malaysia to the world as we are presently doing today.
9. Realising that the tourism industry has the highest potential to accelerate economy activities, the Government of Malaysia has allocated almost 300 million USD to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia for the 2016 budget. In 2014, more than 27 million tourists had visited Malaysia. Next year, it is expected that the number will be increased to 30.5 million tourists and will generate USD24 billion income.
10. With resources and information that we have, and with the skill and expertise that you have, I believe that the cooperation between the Government of Malaysia via the Embassy of Malaysia and the Chilean travel agents could further strengthen the existing bilateral relations between Chile and Malaysia via the people to people link. Therefore, I should consider all of us here today as Ambassadors of Malaysia to Chile. You are not only just doing business, but at the same time assisting us in promoting our country to your valuable customers, and we sincerely hope that more Chileans will be travelling to Malaysia in the years to come from the existing 3,000 over Chileans in a year.
11. Please allow me to help you to underscore some of the important points that you can convey to your customer as follows on Malaysia:-
11.1 Malaysia has the tallest twin tower in the world, known as Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) or commonly known as the Petronas Tower;
11.2 Malaysia is the safest country in Southeast Asia region;
11.3 Malaysia will become a high income developed nation by year 2020;
11.4 Malaysia has all the Asian cuisines and exotic fruits;
11.5 Malaysia is listed as a country which has the cheapest cost of living;
11.6 Malaysia has pristine beaches, jungles, rivers, wildlife;
11.7 Malaysia has the highest mountain in Southeast Asia region;
11.8 Malaysians are friendly;
11.9 Malaysia is the best country to shop international brand items with affordable price:
11.10 Malaysia has homestay program which gives you a chance to experience the daily life of traditional villagers;
11.11 Malaysia has Malaysia My Second Home (MM2H) program with aims to attract tourist to stay longer;
11.12 For the Muslim tourist, Malaysia is internationally recognised for its halal food, and for non-muslim tourist, you don’t have to worry, Malaysia has the food that you are looking for;
11.13 Malaysia has the best highway and railway that can connect you to Singapore at the south and Thailand at the north;
11.14 Malaysia is well known as the hub for medical tourism. We have the best medical facilities with an affordable price. While he/she is having a treatment, the rest of family can also have their own vacation in Malaysia. The Government of Malaysia has established Malaysia Healthcare Tourism Council (MHTC): the focal point for the medical tourism in Malaysia.
11.15 Malaysia has everything, Malaysia is truly Asia and most of all Malaysia is truly Malaysia too.
12. Before I end my speech, I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt appreciation to all of you for attending this event, and thanks to Tourism Malaysia in New York, the Malaysian agency for the collaboration with us today. Remember this four words “Malaysia is truly Asia”.
Thank you.