Terrorism, war, AIDS threaten Asian growth<\/p>\n
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Terrorism, war and AIDS threaten Asia's growth prospects, a
\nWorld Economic Forum summit heard Monday.<\/p>\n
Government and corporate delegates at the East Asia Economic
\nSummit here said a prolonged U.S.-led war in Iraq could hurt the
\nregion's economic recovery.<\/p>\n
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, whose government
\nis a staunch supporter of the U.S. in its showdown with Iraq,
\nsaid "if the war is over fast it is okay" but a protracted war
\nwould push oil prices up.<\/p>\n
Malaysia's Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said the threat of war
\nwas hampering the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks targeted
\nfor completion by the end of 2004.<\/p>\n
"With a looming war over our head... people are now much more
\ncautious about market opening," she said.<\/p>\n
Rajesh Narasimhan, vice president of Singapore-based
\nconsulting firm Covansys, told AFP war and a potential oil crisis
\nwould impact on any recovery.<\/p>\n
"All of this has a negative impact on the recovery of markets
\nand hurts sentiment."<\/p>\n
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said U.S. policy on
\nterrorism was irrational and getting rid of Iraqi leader Saddam
\nHussein would not solve the problem.<\/p>\n
The veteran Southeast Asian Muslim leader told journalists he
\nunderstood that "Americans are very angry. And of course they
\nhave reasons to be angry, but when people are angry they tend to
\nbecome irrational.<\/p>\n
"If you want to fight against terrorism you have to identify
\nthe reasons why terrorists are like they are."<\/p>\n
Mahathir has strongly urged U.S. President George W. Bush to
\ntake a multilateral approach towards Iraq and not launch a
\nunilateral attack.<\/p>\n
"Getting rid of Saddam is not going to solve the problem," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Mahathir said earlier that fear of terrorism and reactions to
\nthat fear were making the already regressing world economy shrink
\nfurther.<\/p>\n
Australia's Downer referred to the Islamic militant group
\nJemaah Islamiyah (JI), which he said had links with Osama bin
\nLaden's al-Qaeda network, as a threat to regional stability.<\/p>\n
"An organization like JI, spread from the southern Philippines
\nto Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia is the greatest terrorist
\nthreat to Asia," he said.<\/p>\n
Downer said Australia was working closely with Southeast Asian
\nnations to crush the group as soon as possible.<\/p>\n
United Nations AIDS chief Peter Piot warned that HIV\/AIDS
\ncould hamper economic growth with "tens of millions" in Asia
\ninfected over the next decade if the region failed to move fast
\nto curb the epidemic.<\/p>\n
There are now some seven million Asians infected with HIV\/AIDS
\nbut the epidemic is spreading "very fast" in the region due to
\ndenial and inaction especially in rural and provincial areas, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"If business continues as usual in Asia, then we will go to
\ntens of millions (of infections over the next 10 years)," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
"In China alone, one can say safely that there will be at
\nleast 10 million, maybe 15 million."<\/p>\n
Piot urged the corporate sector to shoulder the cost of
\nfighting the epidemic after government funds dwindled in the
\naftermath of the 1997\/98 Asian financial crisis.<\/p>\n
John Kivits, Standard Chartered Bank's chief executive in
\nMalaysia, said the HIV\/AIDS epidemic was a "big economic issue"
\nfor businesses and could translate into significant costs.<\/p>\n
In Africa for instance, he said the bank recorded an average
\n10 percent absenteeism daily by its staff due to HIV\/AIDS related
\nmatters and its operation costs in Zimbabwe had risen by 11-13
\npercent due to the disease.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Malaysia's Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz said at the
\nconference that the threat of war in the Middle East threatens to
\nslow the progress of global trade talks already hindered by sharp
\ndifferences between rich and poor nations.<\/p>\n
Efforts by the World Trade Organization to further liberalize
\nglobal trade will be hurt by the current uncertainties facing the
\neconomy.<\/p>\n
That poses further troubles to world trade negotiations that
\nfrequently have been troubled by lingering concerns among poor
\nnations that market-opening measures will mainly favor the rich
\ntraders, she said.<\/p>\n
"Nobody is going to open the market if they are not sure
\nwhether their domestic economy is going to be destructed,"
\nRafidah said at the three-day conference, which closes Tuesday.<\/p>",
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