[asia-apec 1577] Borneo Bulletin Sunday 10 Sept - APEC 2000 - Brunei

[APEC Monitoring Group]

Boost For Financial Systems


By Shino Yuasa - AFP

Malaysian Deputy Finance Minister Shafie Mohd Salleh and South Korean
Ministers of Finance and Economy Jin Nyum arrive for the meeting. Reuters

China's Minister of Finance Xiang Huaicheng (L) and Hong Kong's Secretary of
Financial Services, Stephen Ip at the talks.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum needs to step up its
programme to provide training for financial regulators in the region to
ensure its economic future, a group of experts said.
Following the Asian financial crisis, reform of financial institutions is
essential to ensure lasting recovery, said a memorandum to Apec from a panel
of

experts linked to the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, a grouping of
academics, businesses and governments from 25 Pacific Rim countries.

"Weaknesses in domestic financial systems, especially banking systems, were
a central and common cause of the financial crisis in all of the Asian
countries," the report said.

It urged Apec to launch a major economic and technical training programme in
the financial sector to provide training for banking and financial workers.

Apec finance ministers should play a central role in the planning process
and develop final recommendations for the program before an Apec summit
meeting here in November, the experts said.

Although various training programmes are available through Apec, these have
faced problems, including being insufficient to meet the demand from
emerging market economies.

They also lack a clarity of purpose, are of uneven quality and there is a
lack of coordination between programmes.The experts suggested such an
institute be funded through individual contributions or by Brunei supplying
50-100 million dollars to mark its chairmanship of Apec this year.

"Such an effort could play a major role in both helping Asia assure its
recovery from the crisis on a lasting basis and in restoring Apec to a vital
role in promoting stability and prosperity in the region," the report said.

The experts said Apec faces a crucial time of testing.



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