East Asian summit to focus on recovery

East Asian summit to focus on recovery

SINGAPORE (AP): Whether Asia's economic recovery is here to stay is the question on the minds of top economists and businessmen, gathering in Singapore for a conference beginning Monday.

The three-day eighth annual East Asian summit, organized by the World Economic Forum, a private agency based in Switzerland, will also take a look at new growth possibilities in the region.

Three leaders - Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Thailand's Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong - are expected to take part, in addition to the more than 700 economists and businessmen from all over the world.

Arriving ahead of the summit, the Thai prime minister was to meet Sunday with his Singapore counterpart Goh, officials said.

The summit this year strikes a sharp contrast with last year's event, also held in Singapore, which took place at the height of Asia's economic gloom.

The forum's top official noted that the Asian economic crisis is now over and the flow of international capital into the region is ready to increase.

"Post-crisis Asia is emerging," Claude Smadja, managing director of the World Economic Forum, said earlier this week.

"In coming months, a lot of players will be coming out of the wait-and-see attitude to see if the recovery was real."

Beside coming up with a larger economic picture for the region, the conference hopes to analyze the region country by country, Smadja said.

Following the 1997 regional economic crisis, Asian nations have vowed to undertake reforms to liberalize their economies and make them more open.

The summit is also expected to give attention especially to the situation in China and Japan.

Among the participants are Stanley Roth, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Australia's Foreign Minister Alexander Downer; Stanley Fischer, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund; and Joseph Stiglitz, vice-president of the World Bank.

Lee Kuan Yew, former prime minister of Singapore and the city- state's most influential politician, is also expected to speak at the conference.

The meeting will also address the security situation in the region, particularly Indonesia, which will elect a president later this week.