Poverty, terror a challenge in Asia future<\/p>\n
By Glenn Somerville, Reuters, NEW DELHI,<\/p>\n
Wrapping up a tour of three South Asian nations plagued by
\npoverty and terrorism, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill on
\nSunday rejected the idea the two were directly linked but added
\nwealthy nations must help Afghanistan, Pakistan and India deal
\nwith both scourges.<\/p>\n
After a week in the region that featured a rapid visit to
\nAfghanistan in support of rebuilding efforts in the war-ravaged
\ncountry and longer stays in the other two nations, the U.S.
\nTreasury chief headed for England to speak to a business group in
\nManchester on Monday before heading for Washington.<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters before leaving India, O'Neill said he
\nwas struck by the South Asian region's acute need to stimulate
\neconomic growth to deal with a teeming population. Collectively,
\nthe three countries account for about a third of the people on
\nearth, many of them in rags and jobless.<\/p>\n
O'Neill's apparent intent included demonstrating Bush
\nadministration backing for private sector-led development and for
\nbetter use of Western aid as well as stiffening the fight against
\nmoney flows to terror groups. He insisted each had equal urgency.<\/p>\n
"I don't think the fact that you are poor causes you to want
\nto go out and kill people you don't know, it takes more than
\nthat," O'Neill said, adding the challenge was a larger one to try
\nto bring some relief and protection on both fronts.
\n"I don't think it's necessary to say we've got to do one and we
\ncan't do the other," he said.<\/p>\n
"We've got to do both, in fact we've got to do 50 things or a
\nthousand things and the idea that emphasis on one excludes
\nemphasis on the other is just dead wrong."<\/p>\n
Afghanistan was a case study in the region's acute needs, its
\ncitizens living on an average income of less than US$1 a day a
\nyear after the United States drove out the hard-line Taliban
\nrulers.<\/p>\n
But O'Neill, who met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and
\nsqueezed in quick visits to a girls' school and other sites in
\neight hours in the country, stressed U.S. determination to help
\nthe shattered country rebuild.<\/p>\n
"Afghanistan will not be forgotten..the United States is
\ncommitted to be here for the long term," he told a press
\nconference in Kabul.<\/p>\n
Rifles and heavy-duty military equipment were evident around
\nthe sandbagged city, but bright spots included a visit to a
\ngirls' school where eager students attended in shifts so that a
\nlarger-than-expected swell of students could be accommodated.
\nIn Afghanistan as elsewhere in the region, O'Neill preached his
\nfaith in private-sector involvement and in trade to foster
\nprosperity, but a bid for a regional trade initiative that would
\ndrop barriers to flows of goods between Afghanistan, Pakistan and
\nIndia met at best measured success.<\/p>\n
"I don't know, we'll see, " O'Neill said when asked if he felt
\nhe had made progress. "I found in talking with businessmen an
\nunfettered interest in that idea."<\/p>\n
Smuggling is rampant in much of the region, especially
\nAfghanistan, and cross-border trade is virtually unregulated with
\nfees and charges taken by warlords or those able to collect them.
\nIn two days in Pakistan, O'Neill mixed visits to schools and
\nhigh-tech sites with official meetings with his counterpart,
\nFinance Minister Shaukat Aziz and President Pervid Musharraf.<\/p>\n
He said on Sunday that Pakistan's military leader expressed
\nstrong philosophical conviction during a meeting that his main
\ngoal was finding ways to promote economic growth.<\/p>\n
"He didn't talk to me about tactical maneuvers of tanks and
\nstuff but of where all of the things he has started doing will
\nlead in terms of creating a prospect for a better life for people
\nin Pakistan," O'Neill said.<\/p>\n
It would serve the interests of the whole region if the
\nleaders of the three nations had more direct conversations, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
That is unlikely soon, with India and Pakistan in a state of
\ncontinual tension over hotbed areas like Kashmir, disputed by
\nboth nations and where Islamic terror groups are active.<\/p>\n
O'Neill delivered one of his most toughly worded speeches to a
\nbusiness group in New Delhi, warning that widespread corruption
\nand bribery were "frightening away honest businessmen and
\ninvestors" and had to be brought under control.<\/p>\n
"Respect for property rights and protection against public or
\nprivate thievery is an essential ingredient for economic
\nsuccess," the U.S. Treasury chief said.<\/p>\n
Self-dependence instead of more aid and reforms to create
\nconditions attractive to foreign investors was a common theme of
\nO'Neill's public presentations, especially in India where he said
\nthe prospect of its current one billion population growing by 700
\nmillion in the next two decades was daunting.
\n"I don't think the world's economic development problems can be
\nsolved by charity," he said on Sunday.
\n"I do think that as governments create circumstances both for
\ntheir own good and for creating a context in which development
\ncan occur, then foreign direct investment will come."<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/poverty-terror-a-challenge-in-asia-future-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}