HYDERABAD, Nov 4: Underlining the need for sustainable relations between Pakistan and Malaysia, noted scholars and intellectuals stressed upon the two countries to concentrate on key areas specially education, trade, investment and tourism.

Speaking at an international conference on "Pakistan-Malaysia Relations" the other day, they said that both countries were rich in cultural heritage and they must initiate mutual cooperation programmes for the development of culture and tourism.

The conference was organised by the Area Study Centre Far East and South East Asia, University of Sindh.

Delegates from universities of Pakistan and Malaysia and a large number of scholars including former diplomats attended the conference.

Ripha International University Islamabad vice-chancellor Dr Anis Ahmed congratulated the University of Sindh in taking lead in organising the conference on such important issue.

He said that key to development of Malaysia was not technology but attention on education which was paramount not only to seek knowledge but also to promote values and culture.

He said that education without planning was meaningless and Malaysia had been allocating a big amount since long in its budget and they were spending seven per cent of GDP on education.

He said that it was the need of the hour for collective efforts to promote cultural and traditional values and the problem today was not lack of resources but promotion of family values.

He said that many countries including Malaysia had maintained their family values and culture and people were living a very happy life.

He called for setting up Pakistan-Malaysia Chair for promotion of Languages and Culture in the University of Sindh stressing the need for establishment of such chairs in different universities of the country for promotion of education and culture of the two countries.

In his presidential remarks Sindh University vice-chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui said that Southeast Asia had undergone a remarkable industrial and economic transformation in the last two decades and that over the last decade or so Pakistan had consciously focused on the rejuvenation of ties with South East Asian countries. This has come to be known as our "look east" policy, he added.

Mr Siddiqui said that South East Asia had made remarkable progress in the Asia-Pacific region.

He said that Pakistan and Malaysia were on the same side of the socio-economic divide in the debate on globalisation and that Pakistan considered its bilateral relations with Malaysia very important.

In the recent years, Mr Siddiqui said, the relations between the two countries had deepened and widened even further.

The vice-chancellor said that it was always good to approach the new generation with open mind and that any expression of radical tendencies was always counter-productive and self-defeating.

He said that in this respect Pakistan's drive for enlightened modernisation and Malaysia’s open-minded approach were links in their politics.

Like Malaysia, Pakistan is rich in cultural heritage and both countries can exchange cultural delegations by maintaining a forward looking approach, he added.

He said that there were a number of key areas of cooperation such as trade and investment, human resource development, transport and infrastructure, tourism and people to people interaction.

He said that both countries must find ways to attract greater number of Malaysian exchange students to Pakistan and that one possibility would be setting up special funds for the purpose.

He said that a new security order was in the making in the wake of globalisation and it was difficult for developing countries to protect their common interests on the unilateral basis.

He said that there was dire need to adopt a collective approach for protecting the security interests of countries like Pakistan and Malaysia.

The vice-chancellor expressed thanks to all scholars who attended and contributed their views on such important subject.

Dr Nik Rosnah of the Malaya University Kuala Lumpur said that Pakistan Malaysia relationship had a long history which dated back to 14th century.

She said that Indian Muslims played a crucial role not only in the trade activities but also contributed to Islamisation of the Malay Archipelago which resulted in educational structure through the Sekolah Pondok and Madressah.

She said that in 1920s and 30s Madressahs rose to highest reputation.

She said that a great number of Malaysian have continued their education in Pakistan in different disciplines including medicine.

She said that in last two decades the number of Malaysian students to Pakistan had dwindled.

Prof Ruhanas Harun of University of Malaya said that Pakistan-Malaysia relations had been shaped both by domestic and external factors.

She said that importance of these factors and the nature of objectives in their relations changed with time and circumstances.

She said that there existed a continuity and convergence of interest in relations between the two countries based on the solidarity of Ummah and the ideological alignment to Western liberal democracy and its institutions.

The scholar said that development of Malaysia- Pakistan relations had been facilitated by the absence of conflict and contentious issues between them.

She said that in the last 20 years bilateral cooperation increased in many areas such as politics, economic, defence and social field.

She said that the two countries share common perspectives on many international issues especially those relating to the Muslim world and developing Countries.

Dr Ziaul Islam of the International Islamic University Islamabad presented his paper on Problems of National Integration in Pakistan and Malaysia and Prof. M. Aslam of the department of economics, University of Malaya presented paper on Pakistan-Malaysia Economic Relations.

The dean of the faculty of social sciences of the University of Sindh Dr Rafia Ahmed Shaikh and Prof Altaf Hussain Ansari also spoke on the occasion.

Prof (Dr) Lutfullah Mangi welcomed the participants.