Speech by DAP Secretary-General and Member of Parliament for Bandar Melaka, Mr. Lim Kit Siang, to the Malacca State Sub-Committee meeting on Monday, 18th February 1974 at 10 a.m.
DAP proposals to Tun Razak on the eve of his departure for the leaders of the Lahore meeting with Islamic heads of state
When the Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, attends the Lahore meeting of Islamic heads of state, he would be meeting the leaders of the Gulf oil-producing states.
I wish to make a proposal to Tun Razak on the eve of his departure for the Lahore meeting.
Tun Razak should present a strong case to the Gulf oil-producing states in the Middle East that the oil-producing states, in raising the prices of crude oil, should make a distinction between the industrialised nations of Europe, America and Japan, and the rest: the developing and undeveloped nations.
The recent price increases in the price of crude oil by the Middle Eastern and North African oil-producing states by some nine-field is a great setback to the developing and undeveloped countries who are seeking to achieve economic development and sustaining economic growth.
The Prime Minister, Tun Razak, said in Malacca during the weekend that Malaysia need not be concerned over our oil supplies as the Arab oil produces have given a pledge to the Minister for Primary Industry, Datuk Haji Taib Mahmud, when he visited the Middle East recently, that Malaysia would get enough oil supplies from the Middle East for her needs.
The problem about oil, whether in Malaysia or elsewhere, is not supply any more, but the price.
In the case of Malaysia, crude petroleum imports will cost about $300 million more per year as a result of the October and January crude oil price increases. This is a heavy burden on the Malaysia economy.
Other developing and underdeveloped countries, like India, for example, are similarly adversely affected.
The Arab oil-producing countries should introduce a two-tier oil price system, one for the rich and highly industrialised nations like the U.S., Europe and Japan. For the developing and undeveloped countries, the Arab oil-producing countries should operate a lower tier of pricing so as not to adversely affect their economic growth and development to raise the living standards of the poorer nations in the world.