WTO sees boom in Asia

WTO sees boom in Asia

LONDON (Dow Jones): Renato Ruggiero, director-general of the
World Trade Organization, said Saturday he anticipates an export
boom in 1998 in those countries hit hardest by the Asian
financial crisis.

"We expect export volumes in the most affected countries --
Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, and Thailand -- to increase by
an average of about 10 percent in 1998, well above the expected
world average increase of some 6 percent,' said Ruggiero, at a
lunchtime meeting with foreign and finance ministers from the
Group of Eight industrialized nations in London.

Ruggerio stressed the importance of markets remaining open and
resisting protectionism to aid the economies of these Asian
countries.