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.