Snip ~ *According to the president, the ASEAN could become a new economic force as the world has been taking the region's economy in the last few years into account.
*According to Yudhoyono, if the effective response and coordination could be increased by ASEAN member countries, it is not impossible that the bloc could be a new economic force.
April 9, 2011
ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting ends with 3 outcomes
JAKARTA, The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) concluded its finance ministers' meeting in Nusa Dua area of Indonesia's Bali province on Friday with closer cooperation between them and Japan, South Korea and China as well as the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The meeting resulted in three outcomes, namely protection of bond market, infrastructure funds and a financial surveillance body. The first result is called the Credit Guarantee and Investment Facility (CGIF) valued at 700 million U.S. dollars in which the ASEAN plus Japan, South Korea and China as well as the ADB were preparing mutual funds to secure a private bond market.
The CGIF is also part of the Roadmap for Monetary and Financial Integration of the ASEAN. The second one is an agreement to launch an infrastructure fund later this year to finance infrastructure projects in the region.
_The 450 to 480 million dollar-infrastructure fund would be launched in September this year, with Indonesia contributing 120 million dollars, the second-largest amount.
_Malaysia is the biggest contributor with 150 million dollars, followed by Indonesia and the ADB, whose contribution was not specified.
_The third one is the establishment of a new financial surveillance agency called the ASEAN plus 3 Macro Economic Research Office (AMRO).
_Deputy Secretary General of the ASEAN Puspanathan Sundram said that the AMRO will be independent and its officials are not appointed from representatives of each country but a combination of expert team.
_He said that the AMRO will provide an early warning in case one of the members is in a condition that needs liquidity help.
_Acting Head of the Fiscal Policy Body at Indonesia's Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said that the agency functions as the first defense institution when the ASEAN +3 countries face financial problems before turning to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
_"This agency will issue an early warning when, for example, a country needs supports. The AMRO will issue recommendations after receiving request from the country," he said. However, Brodjonegoro said that the agency could only help on a certain scale. "If the support is regarded too big, the IMF will take it over, " he said. _
Brodjonegoro added that the AMRO will start operating on May 1.
The meeting's results were in line with remarks of Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono who, while opening the meeting, said that protracted global imbalances, upward pressure on commodity prices, and the fallout from natural disasters and climate change are the most daunting challenges that ASEAN members must address.
"There should be a concerted coordination among ASEAN members and the setting up of a global surveillance system to address the future challenges.
The ASEAN needs to be adaptive and responsive to these challenges," said Yudhoyono. Among the imminent impacts of these challenges, he said, was the vulnerability of food and energy security. President Yudhoyono also said that the ASEAN must find ways to get 118 million of people who live with an income of 1.25 U.S. dollars per day out of poverty.
_Therefore, he said, governments of ASEAN countries must find ways to connect poor people to the financial sector as they are not touched by financial institutions like banks of insurance companies.
_According to the president, the ASEAN could become a new economic force as the world has been taking the region's economy in the last few years into account.
_According to Yudhoyono, if the effective response and coordination could be increased by ASEAN member countries, it is not impossible that the bloc could be a new economic force.
_He said that ASEAN countries have been contributing to the world's economic growth with their natural and energy resources that create an economic change.
_He said that the positive trend could become a momentum to increase commitment between heads of state of member countries.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-04/09/c_13819948.htm
