ASEAN seen facing lower growth

ASEAN seen facing lower growth

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AFP): Southeast Asian nations face the
prospect of lower growth because of heightened competition for
investment from China and India, a senior Indonesian official
warned here Tuesday.

"China and India are presenting themselves as very serious
competitors for ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations)," Lakasmana Sukardi, Indonesian State minister of
investment and state enterprises development, told a meeting of
Pacific basin business executives.

"Both countries have huge and cheap labor pools and large
potential markets. In short, the easy days for Southeast Asia are
gone and won't be coming back soon."

As a result, he told members of the Pacific Basin Economic
Council (PBEC), "we are going to have to adjust to slightly lower
growth rates than those enjoyed in the last three decades."

"We have no choice but to get leaner and meaner than we were
in the past. The pressure is greater than ever for us to create
an excellent climate for investment, production and trade."

The minister said ASEAN nonetheless had time to establish the
critical legal structures needed to lure foreign investors
because of uncertainties clouding the future economic direction
of China and India.

He said there were no assurances that China's transition to a
market economy would go smoothly while in India there remained an
underlying resistance to economic liberalization.

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