Barisan Nasional's (BN) power-sharing concept among the country's various races has proven to be a winning formula in bringing economic growth, maintaining peace and stability in the country, said former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

"Nobody can deny that this country has developed and become rich because the BN has been able to administer the country well," he said at a dinner featuring him as the guest of honour here tonight.

Mahathir noted that some people believed Malaysia was already a developed country, thanks to all its major races plus those in Sabah and Sarawak, willing to work together for the sake of the country.

Taking a swipe at the opposition parties which tried to copy BN's way of forging an alliance, he said theirs was not a genuine coalition.

Unlike the BN, he said, they contested elections with their own symbols and lacked common ideologies and policies.

"I hope when you vote in this coming general election, please remember that other people may make promises in their manifesto but they say the manifesto is not a promise," he said.

Mahathir said with 56 years of experience in ruling the country, BN had a good record of bringing about development which could be seen all over the place, including in the field of transportation.

He said Malaysians too had honed their business skills to a point where there were billionaires among them.