IANS | 22 Mar, 2013
The member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) should further boost investment to weather uncertainties of the
current global economic climate, said its deputy secretary-general Lim Hong Hin
Thursday.
One of the important lessons of the Asian financial crisis in 1997 is that
recovery may not be sustainable without growth in private investment, Lim said.
The ongoing global economic uncertainties offer ASEAN the same lesson that the
10-nation bloc needs a domestically generated growth to sustain its medium-term
growth prospect, reported Xinhua quoting Lim.
The deputy secretary-general for ASEAN economic community was speaking at the
forum on the ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), which came into
effect in 2012 to boost investment in the region.
Strong domestic demand, especially domestic investment, has helped the economy
of ASEAN countries remain dynamic despite the global uncertainties.
According to Mustapa Mohamed, minister of International Trade and Industry of
Malaysia, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of ASEAN grew by 5.2 percent in 2012,
outpacing the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted a 5 to 6 percent annual
growth for the period of 2013 to 2017 in ASEAN.
However, Lim said the ASEAN countries should do more to boost investment.
"The dependence of most ASEAN countries on external demand has been an
Achilles' heel that made us vulnerable to the crisis," he said.
He urged the ASEAN countries to make the ACIA work in order to face the
challenge posed by global uncertainties and realize the goal of achieving ASEAN
Economic Community by 2015.
"We have to make sure that it is not just another agreement, but something
that will create a difference in transforming our different investment regimes
into one integrated regime that can create opportunities for our economies, and
more importantly, for the market," he said.
ASEAN groups Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand,
Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam.