ID :
47749
Thu, 02/26/2009 - 12:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/47749
The shortlink copeid
ECONOMIST: ASEAN SHOULD NOT RESORT TO PROTECTIONISM
BANGKOK, Feb 26 (Bernama) -- Asean should fight against near-sighted
protectionism and maintain economic dynamism in the region, according to Dr
Fukunari Kimura, senior economist of the Economic Research Institute for Asean
and East Asia.
"It is already a shrinking market. If you close the national borders, the
market will shrink further and it will delay the recovery of the economies from
the current crisis," Kimura said.
Hence, he said, Asean countries should accelerate financial cooperation
within the region and beyond as well as keep on promoting free trade and foreign
direct investment.
A larger portion of the region's savings goes out of Asia into North America
and Europe, which were considered as safe investment zone and risk-free, Kimura
said at a special session on the Asean Economic Community (AEC) after the
opening ceremony of the 2008 Asean Business and Investment Summit here
Wednesday.
"(So), find good projects within the region by taking risks," he said.
Public investment is more important now than in normal periods, according to
Kimura.
Asean, he said, should also promote the AEC to lead wider economic
integration and participate in the construction of a new trade and investment
regime.
Other short-term remedies to tackle the current economic slowdown were
having expansionary fiscal policies, keeping liquidity, preventing financial
panic and strengthening the region's social safety net, he added.
Asean should also have a coordinated effort to tackle the financial crisis,
deputy secretary-general of the AEC, S. Pushpanathan, said Wednesday.
Asean countries separately have announced stimulus packages totalling US$69
billion.
"Now, each countries have their own (way of addressing the crisis). A
coordinated effort will avoid unwanted trade practices such as protectionism,"
he said, adding that in this context, the Chiang Mai Initiative came into play.
Asean finance ministers, together with their counterparts from Japan, South
Korea and China, expanded the multi-lateralised Chiang Mai Initiative from the
initially agreed US$80 billion to US$120 billion as they pooled together their
resources to face the economic malaise.
-- BERNAMA
protectionism and maintain economic dynamism in the region, according to Dr
Fukunari Kimura, senior economist of the Economic Research Institute for Asean
and East Asia.
"It is already a shrinking market. If you close the national borders, the
market will shrink further and it will delay the recovery of the economies from
the current crisis," Kimura said.
Hence, he said, Asean countries should accelerate financial cooperation
within the region and beyond as well as keep on promoting free trade and foreign
direct investment.
A larger portion of the region's savings goes out of Asia into North America
and Europe, which were considered as safe investment zone and risk-free, Kimura
said at a special session on the Asean Economic Community (AEC) after the
opening ceremony of the 2008 Asean Business and Investment Summit here
Wednesday.
"(So), find good projects within the region by taking risks," he said.
Public investment is more important now than in normal periods, according to
Kimura.
Asean, he said, should also promote the AEC to lead wider economic
integration and participate in the construction of a new trade and investment
regime.
Other short-term remedies to tackle the current economic slowdown were
having expansionary fiscal policies, keeping liquidity, preventing financial
panic and strengthening the region's social safety net, he added.
Asean should also have a coordinated effort to tackle the financial crisis,
deputy secretary-general of the AEC, S. Pushpanathan, said Wednesday.
Asean countries separately have announced stimulus packages totalling US$69
billion.
"Now, each countries have their own (way of addressing the crisis). A
coordinated effort will avoid unwanted trade practices such as protectionism,"
he said, adding that in this context, the Chiang Mai Initiative came into play.
Asean finance ministers, together with their counterparts from Japan, South
Korea and China, expanded the multi-lateralised Chiang Mai Initiative from the
initially agreed US$80 billion to US$120 billion as they pooled together their
resources to face the economic malaise.
-- BERNAMA
