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Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019 banners were decorated in all areas to remark Malaysia as the host for the event at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which runs from December 18 to 21, 2019. — Picture by BERNAMA[/caption]
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 18 — Conflict, war, weak governance, corruption and lack of integrity are among the hindering factors of Muslim countries’ development.
These factors do not only revolve around poor Muslim countries, but also the rich ones.
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Geostrategist Assoc Prof Dr Azmi Hassan said about 60 to 70 per cent of the 56 Muslim countries in the world can be classified as poor countries.
"For a poor country stricken by conflict and war, the government is more focused on solving the conflict rather than developing the country.
"For a country with no conflict, the government would be facing fund management issues as the country’s wealth is not being used to ensure that the nation will continue to prosper and grow, but is spent for the benefit of the leaders," he told Bernama here recently.
Azmi said he believed that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of certain rich Muslim countries is at par with that of the GDP of the rich Scandinavian countries, but the quality of life of the people is very different.
"For these rich Muslim countries, they need to manage their revenue well with the aim to expand their investment to develop the country," he said.
The issue of development is among the topics to be discussed at the Kuala Lumpur Summit 2019, which runs from today until Saturday.
Meanwhile, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) lecturer at the College of Law, Government and International Studies, Prof Dr Ahmad Marthada Mohamed, said all efforts to prevent and curb problems occurring in Muslim countries must begin with the election of a clean leader with a high level of integrity.
"We need more committed and cleaner leaders. In any Muslim countries, we don’t need corrupted leaders who misuse countries’ wealth for personal gains," he said.
— Bernama
