Global trade, regional integration to dominate WEF's Asia summit
Global trade, regional integration to dominate WEF's Asia summit
Agence-France Presse, Singapore
Global trade and regional integration will dominate a gathering of 800 regional business leaders and politicians at next week's World Economic Forum (WEF) East Asia summit here, its organisers said on Wednesday.
WEF Asia director Frank-Jurgen Richter said the failure of the World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancun, Mexico, last month would be high on the agenda in Singapore.
"Especially after Cancun there are many questions now," Richter told reporters after releasing the program for the three- day gathering that begins on Sunday.
"Should we go ahead with globalization? Is maybe Cancun a signal that globalization is coming to a stop? So what about the Asian aspirations and wishes?"
Richter said the Cancun debacle, in which disagreement between rich and poor nations led to a breakdown in negotiations on implanting globalization, had led to an immediate greater focus on bilateral and regional trade deals.
He said the commitment shown by leaders at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) annual summit in Bali this week to regional trade co-operation augured well for the region in the wake of the WTO failure.
"Asia's future is very positive, especially after what we heard yesterday in Bali -- a new initiative for integration and an integrated Asia," he said.
"We see very strong growth engines in Asia. Not only China but Japan, after 15 years of recession, and Southeast Asia."
Richter said the WEF meeting would try to come up with practical measures to further develop the commitments made at the ASEAN talks.
"We at our summit here in Singapore would like to test the ideas and would like to think about what can we do to implement this new Asian and ASEAN framework," he said.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga are among the headline political leaders who will attend the WEF talks.
Hun Sen and Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, will deliver keynote addresses.
Aside from globalization and economic integration, other issues on the agenda include the readiness of Asia's businesses to combat terrorism and other security threats, Asian currencies, Japan's recovering economy and the economic prospects of South Asia.
Some of the business leaders listed to attend are International Monetary Fund deputy managing director Shigemitsu Sugisaki, Visa International president Malcolm Williamson and JP Morgan Chase president Andrew Crockett.
Thomas Cook chairman Stefan Pichler, James Murdoch, the chairman of the Star Group and son of global media baron Rupert Murdoch, and Petronas chairman Hassan Marican will also participate.
The talks are sandwiched between the ASEAN summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting on Oct. 20-21 in Thailand.