ASEAN warned of being sidelined

ASEAN warned of being sidelined

SINGAPORE (DPA): ASEAN parliamentarians were warned on Monday the regional organization will be marginalized and relegated to the sidelines by international investors if it continues to be perceived as "weakened and drifting."

"We must prove them wrong," Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the opening of the 21st General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organizations (AIPO) meeting in Singapore.

Lee, chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and widely credited for the city-state's economic liberalization drive, said the region's recovery from the financial crisis triggered in mid-1977 "has not yet restored international confidence."

"Nagging negative perceptions remain," Lee said. Lee said ASEAN is "still seen as weakened and drifting" even though the crisis has passed and recovery is underway in most of the countries.