The Malaysian-French International Conference: 'Malaysian Capitalism: in Comparative Perspective'

This Malaysian-French International Conference brings together Malaysian, French and international scholars and commentators to explore Malaysian capitalism in a comparative perspectives.

Khazanah Research Institute, together with the Embassy of France, Malaysian France University Centre, and Institut Français, organised a conference on Malaysian Capatalism on 7-8 November 2016. This international conference brought together prominent scholars and experts from France, Malaysia and other countries to explore Malaysian capitalism in a comparative perspective.

Diverse forms of capitalism have developed around the world – including in East Asian and Southeast Asia – which are quite different from the Anglo-American capitalism that we are most familiar with. This includes Malaysia, where we have developed a non-ideological form of capitalism that is consistent with our economic development needs and socio-political characteristics. France, with its rich history, has its own unique version of European socialist democracy, with a robust capitalist market and greater emphasis on the role of the state in the economy.

Recognising that much can be learned from contrasting the experiences of the two countries, the conference sought to explore a range of relevant current issues. This includes the challenge of inequality, and relatedly, the issue of real wage growth and the treatment of workers. The concerns surrounding the issue of migrant labour, which is common in France, the rest of Europe, and Malaysia, was also a subject that was examined.

The conference took place over one and a half days and started with keynote speeches by Professor Sébastien Lechevalier (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales); Professor Pascal Petit (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); and Professor Jomo Kwame Sundaram (Visiting Senior Fellow, Khazanah Research Institute, and Tun Hussein Onn Chair in International Studies, Institute of Strategic and International Studies). The speakers set out the key issues and laid the foundation for the rest of the proceedings in their presentations and in the round-table discussion.

In the morning of the following day, Dr Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux introduced her new book “The Development of Malaysian Capitalism, from British Rule to the Present Day”. There was then a session on labour and inequality with papers from French and Malaysian scholars, followed by a panel discussion on “Interpreting Malaysian Capitalism” featuring French and Malaysian economists, social scientists and commentators.

The afternoon began with a round-table on migrant labour with presentations by the World Bank and social-scientists from universities in the USA and France. The conference ended with a networking session for Malaysian and French researchers and the Malaysian premiere of Jean-Luc Godard’s “Film Socialisme”.

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