Asian economic prospects

Asian economic prospects

The economic crisis was only a minor glitch in the
extraordinary development of East and Southeast Asia, if you go
by the stock market indicators. Except in Japan these have
already clawed back a good part of their 1997 losses. This is
essentially due to exports, which have risen thanks to the
exchange rate. Countries have been able to sell their products
more cheaply and maintain their industrial capacity.

This situation -- as well as the restructuring and the partial
cleanup of formerly corrupt institutions -- has encouraged
foreign investors to return and to modernize the production
infrastructure. What has saved these countries in fact has been
our thirst for consumption.

So the crisis has not been useless. It has allowed the region
to rid itself of some of its demons -- but not all. There is
still a thirst for bribes.

And social problems have been met with rather imperfect
solutions. Although in South Korea -- the most industrialized of
these nations -- unemployment has gone down, in other developing
countries such as Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia there
has only been a marginal fall. Those with jobs have also seen a
fall in their purchasing power.

-- Le Matin, Lausanne, Switzerland