Garten to visit Asia

Garten to visit Asia

MANILA (AFP): A top U.S. official will visit the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore on a tour aimed at exploring potential applications of Washington's "Big Emerging Markets (BEM) strategy," the U.S. embassy said yesterday.

U.S. Commerce Undersecretary Jeffrey Garten was due arrive here at the weekend and will meet with officials on Monday and Tuesday before leaving for the two other members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The BEM strategy involves furthering commercial and trade links with several nations that the United States has identified as showing potential for swift market growth in the next few years.

ASEAN, which groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, are among the countries targeted under U.S. President Bill Clinton's BEM strategy.

Other nations under the BEM are Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the so- called Chinese Economic Area, covering China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.