UNCLASSIFIED
062757
MDTTAN 4572
ADDRESS BY POINTING OUT THAT, WHILE IT HAD BECOME ALMOST A CLICHE TO TALK ABOUT THE 21ST CENTURY AS THE PACIFIC CENTURY, AND WHILE THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION ACCOUNTED FOR 48% OF THE WORLD'S GNP, MOST OF THIS WAS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE US AND JAPAN. WESTERN EUROPEAN GNP WAS MUCH LARGER THAN THAT OF THE REST OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC. WESTERN EUROPEAN TRADE SURPASSED THAT OF THE WHOLE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. EC GDP HAD BEEN FORCAST TO GROW BY 4.5%, OR US DOLLARS 220BN ROUGHLY EQUIVALENT TO THE ENTIRE GDP OF THE 6 ASEAN COUNTRIES FOLLOWING THE CREATION OF THE SINGLE EUROPEAN MARKET. US INVESTMENTS IN EUROPE WERE PROJECTED TO INCREASE BY 11%, COMPARED WITH 7% FOR THE ASIA/PACIFIC REGION, DEMONSTRATING THAT US CORPORATIONS FOUND EUROPE
MORE ATTRACTIVE.
-
WHICH WAS
4. GOH WENT ON TO IDENTIFY A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES THAT HAD TO BE
FACED IF THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION WAS TO COMPETE EFFECTIVELY WITH EUROPE. THE US/JAPAN ALLIANCE HAD TO BE MAINTAINED AND ADAPTED FROM
ONE OF DEPENDENCE TO INTER-DEPENDENCE. THE REST OF THE ASIA-PACIFIC
REGION HAD TO COME TO TERMS WITH A RESURGENT JAPAN AND JAPAN HAD TO WIN THE TRUST OF ITS NEIGHBOURS BY MAJOR INVESTMENT IN, AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO, OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION. THE EAST ASIAN REGION NEEDED ITS OWN VOICE TO PROTECT ITS ECONOMIC INTERESTS (GOH DID NOT ELABORATE). CHINA HAD TO BE KEPT OUTWARD-LOOKING AND HELPED IN ITS MODERNISATION EFFORTS. THE KOREAN PROBLEM HAD TO BE RESOLVED AND A NEW CHAPTER OPENED IN INDO-CHINA.
5. GOH CONCLUDED THAT ASEAN COULD LEARN FROM THE EXPERIENCE OF EUROPE BY EMBARKING ON A NEW PHASE OF COMPETITIVE COOPERATION'' WITH IN A REGIONAL FRAMEWORK, WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTRACT INVESTMENTS INTO THE REGION AND COMPETING, THROUGH MARKET EFFICIENCY, FOR THEIR PRECISE LOCATION. IT WOULD BE POLITICAL ISSUES NOT ECONOMIC RATIONALITY THAT DETERMINED THE DEGREE OF ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND THE RATE OF ECONOMIC GROWTH IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. IF THE POLITICAL NETTLE WERE GRASPED, WEALTH WOULD SPREAD BEYOND THE US AND JAPAN TO OTHER COUNTRIES IN THE REGION.
6.SPEAKING ON THE THEME ''THE PACIFIC AND THE INTERNATIONAL TRADING SYSTEM' 'RAFIDAH AZIZ (MALAYSIAN MINISTER FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND INDUSTRY) DEVOTED MOST OF HER SPEECH TO A DEFENCE OF MAHATHIR'S EAST ASIAN ECONOMIC GROUPING (EAEG) PROPOSAL. THE ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN WAS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN 1991 AND REGIONALISM WAS ON THE INCREASE. IT WAS ESSENTIAL TO MAINTAIN AN OPEN MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM AND ENSURE THAT REGIONAL GROUPINGS DID NOT LEAD TO INCREASED PROTECTIONISM. BUT REGIONISM HAD TO BE SEEN IN A POSITIVE LIGHT IF IT LED TO TRADE LIBERALISATION WITHIN THE REGION, THUS CREATING A
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