Author: CHUNG Yoon Ngan
Date: 05-31-12 00:30
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Asia's growth to rebalance global economy: UN official
http://www.chinadailyapac.com/article/asias-growth-rebalance-global-economy-un-official
By Xinhua
May 31, 2012 - 9:34am http://www.chinadailyapac.com
As economic uncertainties remain and spread in the United States and the Eurozone, the smooth and robust growth in Asia will help rebalance the global economy, a senior United Nations official said on Wednesday.
While the world economy is expected to expand by around 2 percent and the developed countries by a mere 1 percent, the average growth in Asian countries is forecast to exceed 6 percentage points and they are to be seen as the world's economic growth center, said Supachai Panitchpakdi, secretary-general of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
With robust economic prospects and sound reserves, he hoped that Asia Pacific will play a more prominent role in international discussions on trade, financial reform and world reserves, in which the U.S. dollar is now the main currency.
He made the remarks at a private and preliminary session of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on East Asia which is scheduled to open to public from Thursday to Friday in Bangkok, Thailand.
He said that corporate leaders from around the world are participating in the forum as they want to see how the Asian economies are performing, especially following China's lowered growth target.
Meanwhile, the UNCTAD chief reiterated his support for the Chiang Mai initiative in establishing an Asian Monetary Fund, which is one of the central topics at this year's WEF on East Asia. He believed that the only way for Asia to reform the international financial system is to bring together member countries' financial reserves, which account for 70 percent of the world reserves.
Although a single currency and monetary integration, like what exists in the Eurozone, are not necessary, Asian currencies should move in the same direction for stability in exchange rates and to protect the global supply chain, he said.
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