Malaysia's Mahathir Says Data Laws Shouldn't Just Help Big Firms

(Bloomberg) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that laws relating to personal data and intellectual property rights shouldn’t just benefit big companies or advanced economies.

Here are key highlights from his speech to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Papua New Guinea on Saturday:

• “The debate on data localization, intellectual property rights and other related matters will continue. But the philosophy of finding a mutual agreement is that it must benefit national governments and not just big multinational corporations or advanced countries. There needs to be collaboration at the global level to ensure that everyone benefits from technological advancement.”
• “We have gone too far in free trade and economic integration to let them go under in this age of disruption. What we need to do is to adjust to it and from there build new partnerships and agreements to suit the changes. What is worrying is not the strategy but the speed that is required to be implemented in order to be effective. It is a new frontier, mostly still uncharted. APEC too will have to deal with this disruption, failing which it will become irrelevant.”
• “I believe in the adage prosper thy neighbor and not beggar thy neighbor. Everyone gains from the former, while only one gains from the latter. Only with this win-win concept among APEC members can we chart a common and inclusive future in the age of disruption.”
• “The benefits of free and fair trade and economic integration have been disrupted, exemplified by Brexit and trade wars between economies. The trade war between the U.S. and China has amplified further the disruption to our trade and commerce.”
• Policies were needed to protect the losers from a shift toward a more technology-driven economy, including taxi drivers, small hotel owners and brick-and-mortar retailers. They should be retrained and rehired.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jason Scott in Canberra at jscott14@bloomberg.net;Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo at ireynolds1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Daniel Ten Kate at dtenkate@bloomberg.net, Edward Johnson

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