'Southeast Asia to slightly improve'

'Southeast Asia to slightly improve'

Most government officials and experts in Southeast Asia believe the region's economies will only show a marginal improvement this year over 2001, a poll showed on Friday.

The findings of The Straits Times AsiaPoll noted only a few of those queried in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok believe the outlook could worsen.

"Regional economies have bottomed out and are now on the path to recovery," Miguel Varela, board member of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was quoted as saying.

While much hope rests on a sustainable recovery of the U.S. economy, the steps taken to tackle terrorism have contributed to some optimism, the newspaper report said.

Nearly 60 per cent of the respondents said they were satisfied with measures taken by their governments, while 48 per cent said they were satisfied with the steps taken by neighbouring countries.

The poll of government officials, policy makers, chief executive officers and academics also revealed 52 per cent do not support the presence of U.S. forces in the region to fight terrorism.

More than two-thirds said they would not back the United States if it were to unilaterally extend the fight against terrorism to Iraq, North Korea, Somalia or elsewhere.

A breakdown of the results showed most of those who opposed the U.S. presence in Southeast Asia were from the two Moslem- dominated countries, Malaysia and Indonesia.

While eight of 10 respondents in Singapore and Malaysia said they were satisfied with the steps taken by their governments, only two of 10 expressed similar feelings in Indonesia.

Nearly 70 per cent said foreign investors and tourists were shying away from the region because of terrorist-related events. --DPA