Singapore
calls for ASEAN, Indonesia confidence moves
Reuters. April 13, 1999.
CONFIDENCE in ASEAN and member nation Indonesia has been shaken
during the Asian crisis and the group should work jointly to restore it,
Singapore's Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said in Brunei on Tuesday.
In a speech released in Singapore, Goh told the Brunei Civil Service Institute that the grouping of Southeast Asian nations had lost much of its stature since the onset of the financial crisis in 1997 and the key to recovery was regaining investor confidence.
"ASEAN as a group is seen as helpless and worse, disunited in a crisis," the prime minister said.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
"In this difficult period, it is even more important that ASEAN countries cooperate closely for mutual benefit."
Goh said the greatest problems were still faced by Indonesia, noting that political changes since the resignation of former President Suharto in May 1998 have had major ramifications for regional stability and security.
Goh said Indonesia had to establish law and order, meet the basic needs of its citizens, and respond to pressures for a settling of accounts.
He said Indonesia was beginning to reform its bank and corporate debt positions, "but that effort is hampered by the political and social situation."
"Elections are due in June. If they result in a government accepted by the people, there is hope for stability. If not, ie the elected government is challenged, there will be chaos."
Looking at the region, Goh said ASEAN nations should launch joint investment roadshows after the Indonesian election to Japan, the United States and Europe and he called for more business missions from developed nations to the region.
Goh said ASEAN needed to send the right signals to investors that the region was committed to economic liberalisation and foreign investment, and said it also should push ahead with AFTA (ASEAN Free Trade Area), the trade bloc of ASEAN, trade measures.
The prime minister arrived in Brunei on Monday for a two-day visit.
He met the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah on Monday to discuss how Singapore could help the sultanate overcome its economic problems.