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.