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."