SE Asia needs to sell itself, says Singapore PM
SE Asia needs to sell itself, says Singapore PM
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (AFP): Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said Tuesday ASEAN had lost much of its stature in the regional economic crisis and proposed joint roadshows to "sell" the region to foreign investors.
The missions to the United States, Europe and Japan could be undertaken in the later part of 1999 after the Indonesian elections in June, Goh told Brunei ministers and top officials during a working visit to the sultanate.
Goh, who arrived here Monday, said that at the same time, ASEAN should collectively encourage more business missions from the major developed nations to the region, recovering from its worst economic crisis in decades.
"The key to recovery is to regain investor confidence in the region. We must adopt practical measures and persuade the developed countries to be involved in helping ASEAN recover," he said.
Apart from Brunei and Singapore, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) consists of Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Cambodia will become its 10th member on April 30.
Goh said ASEAN "has lost much stature in the crisis" following currency turmoil that slammed the brakes on rapid economic growth in the region.
"First, the crisis has taken the shine out of ASEAN. Second, ASEAN as a group is being seen as helpless and worse, disunited in a crisis.
"In our summits in 1997 and 1998, we failed to convince the outside world that ASEAN was tackling the crisis with determination and decisiveness to regain its high growth," he said.
Bilateral problems within ASEAN came out in the open during the crisis as several nations, including Malaysia and Indonesia, had to also contend with political problems, analysts say.
Singapore also faced political differences with the two neighbors.
In this difficult period, Goh said it was even more important that ASEAN countries cooperate closely for mutual benefits.
He said ASEAN, whose key economies want to create a free trade area by 2002, should send the right signals to investors that the grouping remained committed to economic liberalization and welcomed foreign investment.
He said Singapore, like Brunei, was small and harbored no ambition to lead ASEAN "but we can provide ideas and act as a catalyst to strengthen ASEAN."
Goh said Asian economies appeared to have hit bottom after nearly two years of turmoil. "But the crawl back will be slow and painful because the bottom is made of concrete, not a trampoline," he said.