Asian leaders look to euro as alternative to dollar in int'l trade

Asian leaders look to euro as alternative to dollar in int'l trade

Agence France-Presse, Elsinore, Denmark

Asian leaders gathered here for the ASEM meeting with EU members have shown a keen interest in the euro as a possible alternative to the dollar in international trade, Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if in the future Asian countries were to use the euro as a means of payment in international transactions," Rasmussen told reporters Sunday after a dinner in Elsinore, marking the start of the two-day Asia-Europe meeting held in Copenhagen.

"Asian leaders were asking about the role of the single currency as a reserve currency internationally," he said, adding that exchange rate developments between the euro and the dollar were given particular attention.

According to diplomatic sources, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad took the lead in the discussions, focusing on the euro's role as rival to the dollar in international trade.

Others highlighted the possibility of Asian countries themselves moving towards the adoption of a single currency.

Thailand's prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, raised the possibility of "Asia bonds" issued in a joint currency, according to the sources. Before the advent of the euro, a basket of national EU currencies, the ECU, was regularly used by governments and corporate borrowers to issue debt.

The summit participants are expected to return to the euro in the wider context of economic cooperation between the two continents in a working session on Monday.