SE Asia must 'rely less on rich states'

SE Asia must 'rely less on rich states'

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters): Southeast Asia should rely less on
rich countries or "charity" bailouts by financial institutions
and instead raise funds at home, Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday.

Mahathir told a conference that he believed mobilization of
financial resources from within the region should be the first
step towards self-reliance and "gaining dignity".

"The indifference of the rich countries to our economic
situation should motivate us enough to take the initiative in
looking into the potential of this region for alternative paths
to sustainable progress," Mahathir said.

"This is more appropriate than relying on multilateral and
bilateral donors," he said when opening an international women's
conference on poverty eradication.

The prime minister recently said his country will not ask for
any foreign help to recover from its economic crisis. Foreign
investors have fled Malaysia's currency and stock markets in the
past several months as the contagion from Thailand's economic
troubles spread to the region.

Thailand and the Philippines have recently received financial
aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Indonesia is
seeking assistance from the body.

Mahathir criticized the IMF's aid package for Thailand, saying
the servicing of the debt would be more of a burden than help to
Bangkok.

He also accused international financial institutions of
serving big financial institutions and foundations "in the guise
of assisting the poorest".

"They undermine micro finance by perpetuating the mentality of
charity to these financially viable institutions," he said.

Last week, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance
Minister Anwar Ibrahim said an ASEAN-proposed fund to assist
troubled Asian economies with the help of Japan would need $100
billion.

But he said the fund would only be for countries that had
fallen into trouble accidentally. "Those who have created their
own economic fiasco cannot be beneficiaries of this fund," he
said.

The IMF and United States are wary of the concept and Germany
is strongly opposed, fearing a regional facility would disperse
funds without demanding the strict -- some Asians say too strict