Mahathir outlined the history of Malaysia's success under his predecessors and his own 22- year reign in his keynote speech, "Malaysia 2020 -- From Vision to Reality", at the inaugural session of the Bangladesh-Malaysia Business Forum to a packed Hotel Sonargaon ballroom yesterday.

"Governments cannot always do popular things if they want to govern well. Doing the right thing is often unpopular. Only strong governments with big majorities are capable of doing unpopular right things and still survive," Mahathir said in his speech that was telecast live on a private television channel.

He added, "It is simple enough to make a decision about what needs to be done in order to develop the country," but implementing the decision requires a 'great deal' of skill and dedication from the implementors from the prime minister to the 'lowest rung of the administration".

Mahathir also said Malaysia's low-level of corruption was achieved by sparing no-one, "not even the ministers and prime minister".

Asked about his prescription for the endemic corruption that is crippling Bangladesh, Mahathir said corruption cannot be stopped if everybody "right from the top" are involved in it. He said when senior government officials are involved in corruption, there is no way to stop it.

On Malaysia's ability to deal with the Asian economic crisis in 1997, Mahathir said it was his ability to think outside of "textbook economics" and a strict adherence to national interest that had allowed him to ignore external economic advice that he felt would have "bankrupted the country".

Mahathir recalled that Malaysia's political differences were resolved only by taking a decision that all parties got a "slice of a growing economic cake", rather than "having the whole of a shrinking cake".

Peace and stability could only be attained by ensuring a fair share of national wealth, he added.

He explained that Malaysia's leadership decided that the 'only way' to industrialise, "was to invite foreign industrial investors to invest in labour intensive industries".

It was at a time when Malaysia had no manufacturing expertise, no capital, no management skills and no knowledge of the markets.

He noted that this policy created so many jobs that the country ran out of labour, which had paved the way for two million foreign workers to work there, including a large portion from Bangladesh.

"It is fairly easy for the government to adopt investor friendly attitude and policies. But the work force must also help to make investments in Malaysia attractive," he warned.

Mahathir said Malaysian workers had in the process became highly skilled and commanded better pay.

"All these changes require a radical change in attitude" of workers, Mahathir said. "Workers need to appreciate the importance of quality."

He also stressed that innovative administrative reform was crucial for Malaysia's progress such as stringent anti-corruption policies, effective and regular meetings of crisis-management committees, and training.

Infrastructure development by the government and subsequent privatisation, Mahathir added, meant that new towns and economies were sprouting along highways which, in turn, created greater demand for services and utilities.

Chief Guest at the inaugural session, Finance and Planning Minister M Saifur Rahman said "Bangladesh may have not been able to attain the desired level of growth but we have not failed." He added that Bangladesh was doing better than India on Millennium Development Goals despite a decreasing amount of arable land and more mouths to feed.

"We also have our political instability," he said, explaining that Bangladesh's political institutions are not supportive of political stability and the parliamentary process has in-built weaknesses.

Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan, Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury, Malaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Ashaary Bin Sani, Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Salahuddin Kashem Khan and Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Abdul Awal Mintoo also addressed the session.

Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Sheikh Hasina and former president HM Ershad are scheduled to meet with Mahathir this morning before his departure at 10:00am.