Minister of Health of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai
Introduction
Greetings from Malaysia. It is my great pleasure to post a short message in the esteemed newsletter of your Portuguese Dental Association.
Historical Tie between Malaysia and Portugal
The tie between Malaysia and Portugal can be traced back to 500 years ago in Malacca. Incidentally, I was born in Malacca and very familiar with the history between Portugal and Malacca. We still have a replica Portuguese ship showcased at the Malacca harbor and remnants of buildings dating back to the Portuguese era, not to mention the many Portuguese descendants in Malacca today.
Malaysia’s vision in Dentistry
Malaysia is a fast growing nation in Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific Region, and the healthcare industry is an important growth area in our national economy. We plan to develop Dental Tourism and position Malaysia as a major regional player. Towards this end, we place great emphasis on continuing dental education and life-long learning to promote Malaysia as a centre of excellence for dental care. We will also be investing in new facilities to position Malaysia at the forefront of dental technology.
Malaysia’s drive to be a hub for international conferences
I have urged the Malaysian Dental Association (MDA) to also help position Malaysia as a centre of excellence for international conferences. Through the good office of the President of MDA, Dato’ Dr How Kim Chuan, we have successfully organized the 67th MDA AGM/FDI International conference as well as the 18th FDI/MDA International conference with resounding success.
Riding on this high note, we have successfully bid for the 2012 Commonwealth Dental Conference and 2013 Asia Pacific Dental Congress, and I am confident that these two conferences would be very successful as well.
Now I wish to express Malaysia’s wish to host the 2015 FDI World Dental Congress. Malaysia had hosted the FDI World Dental Congress in 2001 at around the same time as the 911 tragedy. Despite this mayhem, we successfully organized the congress with a large turnout of about 15,000 delegates. I am confident that we would be able to do even better if we were given the hosting right in 2015.
I wish to endorse the MDA’s bid for this FDI World Congress. The Ministry of Health as well as the Malaysian government would give our support to MDA for the bidding process. I also wish to urge the support of the FDI President Elect, Dr Orlando Monteiro Da Silva, and the Portuguese Dental Association in Malaysia’s bid, and your support as well for Malaysia’s candidacy in the FDI Council.
I would like to welcome all of you to visit Malaysia and assure you of our warmest Malaysian hospitality. Thank you.
Orlando Monteiro da Silva 