U.S. strikes prompt ASEAN to lure investment<\/p>\n
HANOI, Vietnam (AP): Economic uncertainty following the
\nterrorist attacks in America prompted Southeast Asian nations to
\nboost their efforts to lure outside capital by acting more
\nquickly to eliminate restrictions on foreign investment, Cabinet
\nofficials said Friday.<\/p>\n
\"There's a sense of greater urgency as a result of what
\nhappened there,\" said Singaporean Trade Minister George Yong-Boon
\nYeo. \"The prospects for an early recovery have receded.\"<\/p>\n
The 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
\nhad intended to change their deadline for treating outside
\ninvestors the same as local investors from 2020 to 2015, but the
\ncrisis in the United States prompted the six wealthiest ASEAN
\nmembers to move the deadline to 2010.<\/p>\n
The less-developed members, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and
\nLaos, will wait until 2015.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN states fear their already shaky investment prospects
\ncould worsen after China joins the World Trade Organization -
\nprobably within the next few months - opening the world's most
\npopulous nation even further to foreign investors who have been
\nclamoring for more access.<\/p>\n
ASEAN hopes to create a unified investment zone by breaking
\ndown bureaucracies and red tape that stifle trade, and ministers
\nsaid each member would be looking at its own rules and laws to
\nliberalize them.<\/p>\n
\"If it's restraining the private sector, we have to eliminate
\nit,\" Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz told a news
\nconference. \"We need to do it in a hurry, because the world won't
\nwait for ASEAN.\"<\/p>\n
Aziz noted that some of the nations have already exceeded
\nASEAN's goals and others need to catch up.<\/p>\n
ASEAN's fears about China's accession to the Geneva-based WTO,
\nwhich sets global trade rules, have been aggravated recently by
\neconomic slowdowns in all the world's major economies, which will
\ndampen demand for the exports that are the backbone of many Asian
\neconomies.<\/p>\n
The hijacking of four U.S. passengers jets, two of which were
\nflown directly into New York's World Trade Center in a suicide
\nattack that leveled the twin towers, has jolted the world and
\nstirred fears it could throw economies into further trouble. Yeo
\nsaid that helped convince the ASEAN members to hasten their
\nplans.<\/p>\n
\"It is not clear what the effect will be, but it could be for
\nthe worse,\" Yeo said.<\/p>\n
The six ASEAN members who will treat all investors the same as
\nof 2010 are Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines,
\nThailand and Singapore.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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