Singapore meeting to focus on Asian crisis

Singapore meeting to focus on Asian crisis

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Capital controls and the liberalization of financial systems in Asia will be the key focus of discussions, both formal and informal, at a gathering of international political and business leaders next week.

"The issue of what is happening to the process of financial liberalization all over the region is a key issue," said Claude Smadja, managing director of the World Economic Forum.

Smadja said the issue of capital controls would be "addressed in many sessions. It is too bad that we don't have more officials to present their point of view," he told reporters on Friday.

The Swiss-based WEF, together with Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) is staging the Seventh East Asia Economic Summit from October 12 to 14th in Singapore. The summit will have 700 international participants, Smadja said.

Philippines President Joseph Estrada, on his first visit to Singapore, will be the keynote speaker at the summit which will also be addressed by Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong.

Also present will be Hubert Neiss, the International Monetary Fund's chief expert on Asia, the heads of central banks from New Zealand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia and stock exchange chiefs from Asian bourses.

A host of corporate chief executives from companies including Jardine Matheson, Nestle of Switzerland, Korea's Daewoo Corp, Novell Inc, Yamaha Corp and the Philippines Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) will also address the conference.

Smadja said he was disappointed with the relatively small turnout by senior European officials.

"I am very disappointed. I think that Europe has been missing a historical opportunity in this crisis to strengthen its links with East Asia," he said.

"Europe has said for many years it wanted to establish links with East Asia. It was a golden opportunity for Europe to show that it meant what it was saying."

"We have invited top officials from Europe to convey strong messages about Europe's interest. I must say that we have not been successful with respect to political leaders."

He said the absence of key officials from countries such as Japan was for a different reason.

"The absence of some senior officials from different countries is a good indication of the fact that in some countries they do not feel fully confident about the kind of message they can convey at this state," he said.

Japan's Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs Eisuke Sakakibara is among those scheduled to appear who have backed out.

"It is quite clear that in their countries, the debate that is going on at the political level is not yet finished," he said.

Apart from Sakakibara, another no-show at the summit will sacked Malaysian finance and deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, one of those invited. Anwar is in jail awaiting trial on charges of sodomy and corruption which he denies.

The theme of the WEF summit is the Asian crisis and the "new economic landscape in Asia".

Smadja said the summit was aimed partly at restoring a balanced perspective of the Asian crisis.

"We strongly believe that has happened in the last 15 months was definitely a process of overreaction and over-adjustment to the problems which existed," he said.

"There is an Asian miracle. It now is in parenthesis. There will be an Asian miracle after the phase that we are going through."