ASEAN talks with Japan, S'pore, Taiwan on rejuvenation fund

ASEAN talks with Japan, S'pore, Taiwan on rejuvenation fund

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is to consider plans for a regional rehabilitation fund which Malaysia has discussed with Japan, Singapore and Taiwan, newspapers reported Saturday.

Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim was quoted as saying that the idea would be discussed during a meeting of ASEAN finance ministers in Jakarta on Friday and Saturday, along with a separate proposal for a regional investment fund.

"There have been suggestions on the formation of these funds, firstly to realize more extensive investments, specifically in the field of infrastructure for ASEAN," Anwar was quoted as saying by The Sun newspaper.

"Another fund -- which has already been discussed at length by Malaysia with the leaders of Singapore, Japan and Taipei -- is to rejuvenate the financial strength of the region," the finance minister reportedly said.

Anwar, who visited Japan and Taiwan earlier this month, was speaking to reporters during a visit to his home town in Bukit Mertajam in northern Malaysia on Friday.

The Star newspaper quoted him as saying that ASEAN finance ministers would discuss "developments in the existing currency crisis and stock (market) affecting the region and also additional measures needed to strengthen our fundamentals as we face this situation.

"The discussion is an extension of an earlier meeting attended by the Southeast Asian central bank governors meeting in Bali last week," he said.

Central bank governors from the five key ASEAN members agreed at a meeting in Bali last weekend to form a task force to study the potential use of their currencies in intra-regional trade settlements.

The task force -- comprising Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand -- is expected to meet in Kuala Lumpur next week.

Other members of ASEAN are Brunei, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.