ASEAN ministers vow to boost cooperation

ASEAN ministers vow to boost cooperation

HANOI (AFP): ASEAN finance ministers vowed to work closely to ensure Southeast Asia's recovery from economic crisis as they launched two days of talks here on Friday.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai warned that while the prognosis for the region's economies was optimistic, there were difficulties ahead.

"There are uncertainties in the future and risk that the situation might change negatively," he said at the opening of the two-day meeting of ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

"It is therefore the common task now for us to address and eliminate these adverse effects so that these economies can be quickly restored to their growth paths," Khai said.

Khai said cooperation in money and finance, along with a plan to accelerate tariff cuts in regional trade, "will contribute to accelerating vigorously the economic recovery of the region as a whole."

Indonesian Minister of Finance Bambang Subianto said a key to eliminating such risks was greater financial cooperation.

"Strengthening financial cooperation is undoubtedly important in encouraging and facilitating the greater movement of capital and other financial resources within our region," he said.

"There are challenges ahead that we are facing. However, with stronger solidarity and commitment among us, I believe that we could overcome the crisis and achieve our common goal in enhancing the prosperity of our people," he said.

ASEAN finance ministers, at their morning session expressed concern over external risks threatening the region's recovery from the economic crisis, ASEAN secretary-general Rodolfo Severino said.

The ministers were optimistic of progress made by their economies since the crisis struck in mid-1997, but "they raised some possibilities that impede recovery like protectionism, the state of the Japanese economy, the slowing down of the economy of the United States," he told reporters.

The ministers noted also that the process of "bank reform is going on rather vigorously given what's happening in Thailand and Indonesia," he added.

At the opening ceremony, Indonesia handed over the chairmanship of the ASEAN finance ministers' forum to Vietnam.

Vietnam Finance Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said the meeting will focus on strengthening cooperation in finance.

Hung said regional economies stricken by the financial crisis that broke out in mid-1997 had bottomed out but there was urgent need for more initiatives.

"The developments in money and finance sector in the region as well as globally will, however, be extremely complicated that require bolder and more efficient economic reform measures, particularly cooperation measures in the money and finance sector," he said.

Hung said a timetable to implement certain finance-related decisions made by ASEAN leaders at their last summit here in December would be discussed.

High on the agenda is a report on the ASEAN Surveillance Process, which includes an early warning system that will help avert future economic crises. The process was approved by ASEAN in February 1998 in Indonesia.

The finance ministers would also consider a common stand in international forums and the reform of the international financial architecture, Hung added.

Vice finance chiefs and deputy central bank governors on Thursday called for measures to combat volatile short-term capital flows, urging greater financial transparency in the private sector.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The ministers are also scheduled to meet representatives of international financial institutions to discuss economic prospects and potential risks to the region's recovery.

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