Goh sees silver lining in Asian crisis
Goh sees silver lining in Asian crisis
SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
said on Monday the Asian financial crisis that wreaked havoc on
the region had proved to have a silver lining, pushing it in the
direction of more open, less corrupt economies.
"The crisis has given East Asia an opportunity to quicken its
economic liberalization, jettison KKN (corruption, collusion and
nepotism) in favor of good corporate governance and refocus on
capability and productivity growth," Goh told the World Economic
Forum.
He said the opening of East Asian economies had accelerated,
partly thanks to International Monetary Fund prescriptions and
partly to the need to re-capitalize Asian banks and companies.
"Even relatively closed sectors such as banking, insurance and
automobiles have now been liberalized," he said.
Goh said Indonesia coined the term KKN but now there are
strong reformist forces there demanding transparency and
accountability.
"To expect a clear-cut victory overnight for transparency and
accountability will be naive. KKN is endemic in many societies.
But hopefully, the economic crisis should bring about a retreat
of KKN," he said.
Goh said the crisis forced East Asia to think long-term and
take steps to improve workers training and education and promote
innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
"The fourth positive outcome is that Asia received a traumatic
but necessary lesson on the realities of globalization, in
particular, the way globalized capital markets work," he said.
He said Singapore had taken steps to educate its workforce and
ramp up liberalization in key areas, including financial and
telecommunications sectors.
In finance, he said a three-pronged strategy was in place to
promote an asset management industry, to develop capital markets
and to build a strong a competitive banking industry.
"As for telecommunications, the approach is to increase
consumer choice at the most competitive prices, to stimulate
greater efficiency and to raise service quality."