(18 Nov 1998) English/Nat
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has delivered the final statement for the APEC summit.
Leaders of Pacific Rim nations have reached a deal to ease the economic crisis across Asia and take free trade in the region into the next millennium.
But the package of measures is a modest one.
The APEC leaders' final statement was read out by host Malaysian Premier Mahathir Mohamad in the grounds of the leader's hideaway near the capital Kuala Lumpur.
He was flanked by leaders of the 20 other nations which make up APEC - all dressed in traditional batik shirts hand picked in style and colour by the Prime Minister.
Their communique praises signs of recovery in four of the hardest-hit Asian countries, and stresses they must continue adopting the painful reforms recommended by the International Monetary Fund.
But the forum also called for more financial assistance from the international community, and endorsed a U-S proposal to speed emergency loans to the Asian countries at the centre of the crisis.
Despite the strong anti-free market views promoted by Mahathir the APEC statement rejected calls for stiffer regulation of foreign exchange trading or new controls on the movement of capital in and out of countries.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are committed towards strengthening the foundation of growth to ensure the efficient growth of trade investment and technology. However our efforts are being constrained by the ongoing financial crisis which has impact on economic growth, employment and social cause of rising poverty and declining incomes. The outlook for the global economy has deteriorated considerably."
SUPER CAPTION: Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister
Offering Mahathir a consolation prize, the statement did call for a review of the practices of international credit rating agencies.
Mahathir has angrily charged in recent days that the agencies downgrade the debt of developing countries arbitrarily, without proper review.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We are committed to pursuing a cooperative growth strategy - with the following dimensions: Growth oriented prudent macro economic policies. Expanded financial assistance from the financial community to generate employment and to build and strengthen social safety nets. Comprehensive programme of support to strengthen the financial systems, restore trade finance and accelerate cooperate sector restructuring."
SUPER CAPTION: Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir outlined measures to be taken by the APEC nations to tackle the side-effects of Asia's financial crisis.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"These include intensifying efforts in addressing the social impact of the crisis. We call on our finance ministers to work with multilateral development banks to formulate concrete actions aimed at strengthening social safety nets. Strengthening the international and domestic financial systems, including improving accountability and transparency and improving coordination and involvement of the private sector in the process. "
SUPER CAPTION: Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister
The Malaysian Prime Minister said APEC nations also agreed on liberalisation of trade.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysian Prime Minister
As expected, the final statement appeared to hew closely to the Clinton administration's free-market, pro-IMF handling of the crisis.
Mahathir said he was not aware of any differences between himself and Gore.
The summit has been dogged by trade disputes and rows over democratic rights in Malaysia .
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