Lamont lambasts EU's view of SEA

Lamont lambasts EU's view of SEA

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Britain's former Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont has lambasted the European Union for its negative view of Southeast Asia, a news report said yesterday.

Lamont, a British government backbencher, said many EU nations' feared the emerging markets in Southeast Asia would threaten their economic survival.

"They use words like 'tiger' or 'dragon' to describe the new emerging markets here... not in complimentary terms but as a threat," he said in an interview with the New Sunday Times.

"I think this is nonsense," said Lamont, deploring the EU's blinkered view that Asian developing countries were a threat.

Lamont, a "Eurosceptic", also ridiculed the common EU view that Asia's economic boom and prosperity were due to Asia's alleged rampant "dumping" of goods in Europe.