ASEAN members warn of backlash on mega-mergers<\/p>\n
BANGKOK (Agencies): Southeast Asian countries said on Saturday
\nthey were concerned about developing nations being hit by a
\nbacklash from a current global trend for mega-mergers and
\nacquisitions.<\/p>\n
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
\nsaid at a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that
\nbecause of this, alternative strategies for global economic
\ndevelopment had to be found, a spokesman told reporters.<\/p>\n
The meeting was held on the sidelines of a four-yearly summit
\nof the UN's trade and development agency UNCTAD which began on
\nSaturday, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
ASEAN groups Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Brunei,
\nLaos, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia,
\nMalaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said at the meeting
\nthat "these mergers could result in a domestic backlash against
\nglobalization," the spokesman, Kobsak Chutikul of Thailand, said.<\/p>\n
Mahathir was concerned that such mergers and acquisitions
\ncould create giant multinationals that could gain superior
\nadvantages over smaller domestic companies in various fields.<\/p>\n
Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told Annan that big
\nmergers could provide a backlash by taking multinationals' focus
\naway from social safety nets.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of 2000, there have been two notable world
\nmega-mergers -- the $151.80 billion AOL and Time Warner deal in
\nthe United States and the German company Mannesmann's $176.50
\nbillion merger with Vodafone Airtouch of Britain.<\/p>\n
At the meeting, Foreign Minister Win Aung of military-ruled
\nMyanmar asked for help from the UN and other international
\norganizations in creating conditions for greater democratization
\nin the country, according to the spokesman.<\/p>\n
Thailand's premier Chuan Leekpai suggested to Annan that ASEAN
\nbe given observer status at the United Nations, the spokesman
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Annan told the 10-member grouping's leaders that there needed
\nto be a structured way for ASEAN and the United Nations to
\ncollaborate in the future. He later invited ASEAN to attend the
\nnext UN meeting in June as an observer.<\/p>\n
Mekong river<\/p>\n
ASEAN leaders also asked for more UN help in developing the
\nimpoverished Mekong River Basin, Associated Press reported<\/p>\n
The river basin is shared by the four poorest countries in the
\nregion, along with Thailand and China, and ASEAN hopes that
\ndevelopment of the area will help better equalize wealth among
\nits members.<\/p>\n
The Thai prime minister also proposed to Annan that the United
\nNations consider designating a special decade for the development
\nof the Mekong area, officials who attended the meeting said.<\/p>\n
Governments alone will be unable to provide the large amounts
\nof money needed to build roads, dams, power plants and other
\ninfrastructure in the area, development officials say.<\/p>\n
Among the projects planned for the region is a US$350 million,
\n400-kilometer (250-mile) East-West Transport Corridor project
\nwhich will join Mukdahan in Thailand and Savannakhet in Laos to
\nLao Bao, Dong Ha and the port of Da Nang in Vietnam.<\/p>\n
ASEAN ministers also met Saturday with the heads of UN
\nagencies to explore how UN activities can be expanded in
\nSoutheast Asia, Philippine Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon said.<\/p>",
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