Putrajaya, Sunday 9 December 2007 – As the year 2007 draws to a close, Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, will speak on the 50th Year of Malaysia’s Independence and the priorities of the nation moving forward at the Khazanah Global Lectures (KGL) on Monday, 10 December 2007.

The Prime Minister is expected to touch on Malaysia’s socio economic journey over the past 50 years and share his vision on the values needed to shape a successful Malaysia of the future.

The Prime Minister’s lecture is the fourth in the KGL series organised by Khazanah Nasional Berhad under the Khazanah Merdeka Series (KMS) to commemorate Malaysia ‘s 50 years of Merdeka. The theme for KMS is “Development.”

“Our objective for KMS is two-fold: to anchor all Malaysians with a deeper knowledge of the country’s history and progress; and to chart the nation’s future development by learning from world-class intellectuals, technocrats and business leaders. This is our small contribution as we come together to celebrate this important milestone in our nation’s progress,” says Khazanah Nasional’s Managing Director Dato’ Azman Mokhtar.

Earlier this year, three Nobel Laureates; 2001 Nobel Prize Winner for Peace and former Secretary General of The United Nations, Mr. Kofi A. Annan; 2006 Nobel Prize Winner for Peace and the Founder and Managing Director of Grameen Bank, Professor Muhammad Yunus; and, 2001 Nobel Prize Winner for Economics and former Chief Economist of The World Bank, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz shared their experience, expertise and views on various aspects under the same theme.

Besides the KGL, the KMS features two other components: the Khazanah National Development Seminar (KNDS) and the Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2007 (KMF2007) which were held in September and November respectively.

Khazanah is organising the KMS as part of its corporate responsibility initiatives, aimed at fostering a culture of knowledge-building and sharing, so that current and future generations of Malaysians could participate in the country’s development agenda.

To ensure a wider audience amongst the younger generation of Malaysians, each KGL event was broadcast live to several public universities across the nation, expanding the reach of the lectures across the country’s academic spectrum.

The Prime Minister’s luncheon lecture at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre will be cast “live” to Universiti Sains Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Tenaga and Universiti Malaysia Sabah.