Stand up against the West: Mugabe

Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe, has urged developing countries to stand up against external political interference and ensure that good governance and people-oriented policies that benefit ordinary people in their respective countries are adopted.

Mugabe was speaking at the ongoing 9th Langkawi International Dialogue in Putrajaya Malaysia.

Speaking at the same occasion, Malaysian Prime Minister, Mr Abdul Razak hailed the increase in the volume of trade between Africa and Malaysia since the inception of the smart partnership dialogue in 1995.

Mr Razak said Africa is experiencing  economic resurgence with an average economic growth of 5 percent in the recent past, compared to 4,2 percent which is being experienced globally.

He said problems like poverty, unemployment and other challenges facing developing countries are common and that the dialogue is an opportunity for the  affected countries to get together, share experiences and chat the way
forward.

PM Razak also highlighted the need to curb rural-to-urban migration through appropriate technologies and to be committed to the attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals.

He shared with participants to the 2011 dialogue how Malaysia has strategised towards the achieving of its national vision through the people first approach, the prioritisation of innovation and other policies.

At the same ceremony the Malaysian PM announced a US$12 million scholarship programme for African students to study at Malaysian universities.

Limkokwing, which has campuses in Lesotho, Botswana and Swaziland, offered the scholarships to deserving students for Smart Technology and Creativity degree programmes to all African countries.

The scholarship programme comprise 45 full-tuition scholarships, 450 partial scholarships whose tuition fees are 30% less, and 5 day training in transformational leadership for 150 government officers.