'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