Asian turmoil not a risk for financial services agreement

Asian turmoil not a risk for financial services agreement

GENEVA (AFP): Southeast Asia's stockmarket turmoil will not derail moves to sew up an agreement liberalizing global financial services by the mid-December deadline, World Trade Organization director general Renato Ruggiero said here Tuesday.

"We do not have any negative sign on (Southeast Asian nations') position, " Ruggiero told AFP, insisting there was "positive movement" to clinch a deal.

Malaysia and Indonesia promised at meetings in Geneva earlier this month they would put forward offers that provided greater access for foreigners to their banking and insurance markets by a key Nov. 12 meeting here.

Thailand, the sickest Southeast Asian nation, said it would try its best to put in a package granting foreigners a more level playing field in its national financial services markets.

Ruggiero is leaving Wednesday for Kuala Lumpur to attend a meeting of 15 developing countries (G15) on November 3.

Indonesia's and Malaysia's heads of state have confirmed their participation and Ruggiero said he would be talking to Southeast Asian governments.

"My message will be, let us have the courage to move on because this is a good moment to make a financial service negotiation that which will strengthen the solidity and efficiency of financial institutions."

"I do believe that the success of the negotiations will help to recover market stability," he said.

There was no pressure to extend the December 12 deadline, he said.

Trade negotiators were optimistic several weeks ago about the chances of wrapping up the negotiations successfully. The United States scuppered a deal in 1995 because it deemed that fast- growing economies, particularly those in Southeast Asia, had been too stingy in their offers.

Washington wants U.S. firms to be granted equal treatment with domestic firms in national markets.

Ruggiero was speaking on the sidelines of a two-day high-level meeting for the world's 48 so-called least developed countries (LDCs) sponsored by the WTO and five other inter-governmental agencies, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

This group will go home with some trade sweeteners in their pockets in the form of promises by the world's richest nations to remove or lower duties on their exports.

The aim of the meeting, which ended Tuesday was to launch initiatives to bring the poorest nations into the global trade mainstream.

"This theme -- free access for LDC (exports into developed nations) -- will be one of the major issues of negotiations that begin in 1999," Ruggiero said.