Critical for economies to promote openness in markets, says Zoellick
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 10 November 2009 1306 hrs

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SINGAPORE: World Bank president Robert Zoellick said on Tuesday a key lesson learnt from the global economic crisis is the need to keep evolving to promote openness in markets.

This process, he said, could be done through formal trade agreements.

Speaking at a symposium on APEC's 20 years of achievements, Mr Zoellick said APEC economies have been successful in facilitating intra business opportunities amongst the members by doing it in a cost-effective way.

He said a critical outcome of the crisis is how Asia and the Asia Pacific continue to work together to emphasise the positive lessons that can be derived from their experiences.

"Most of the focus coming out of Europe in this crisis is now focused on regulation, compensation, bonuses. And it is quite intriguing to come to Asia where the sense is, if you have a slow growth path, the real challenge is what structural changes do you need to have to increase the possibilities of growth," he said.

"I find that very healthy and it actually is very important as one considers future global arrangement."

The symposium was organised by the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies on the sidelines of the APEC ministerial meetings in Singapore.

The ministerial meetings will begin on Tuesday evening with a welcome reception attended by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.


- CNA/so