Taiwan had one of its most focused financial gatherings in Taipei yesterday aimed at helping the island come up with solutions to how best it can meet the challenges of financial restructuring.
In a statement to the summit, President Chen Shui-bian (
The summit, Chen said, will help raise Taiwan's profile in international financial markets. Chen's statement aside, Vice President Annette Lu (
As a diplomatic pariah, Taiwan -- which is not a member of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the World Bank -- has a lot to gain by internationalizing its financial predicament.
Indeed, the government has taken the summit seriously as seen from the weight of global guests in attendance.
It included former vice chairman of the US Federal Reserve Preston Martin and two current Federal Reserve Bank presidents -- Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and Gary Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
Investment banker Gerald Corrigan, managing director of Goldman Sachs, and academic Robert Hamada, Dean of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago, and economist Klaus Friedrich, chief economist of Dresdner Bank were also invited.
The government evidently is keen on using the US' expertise in solving the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980's for Taiwan's own financial restructuring.
The summit should be lauded as it highlights Taiwan's commitment to address the problems in the banking system.
Thanks to its once-resilient economy, Taiwan is perhaps the only East Asian country that has yet to see deep-rooted reforms in the financial system.
The meeting also includes other veteran Asia hands such as Masaru Yoshitomo, Dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute, and Hubert Neiss, chairman of Deutsche Bank Asia, who is no stranger in Asia, thanks to his role as the IMF's point man in Asia during the East Asian Financial Crisis.
Foreign analysts stood with Taiwanese bankers, economists and officials to discuss a variety of issues ranging from financial restructuring, the impact of WTO entry on Taiwan's financial sector, and the international competitiveness of Taiwan's financial industry.
While the quasi-academic seminars will not help solve the banking woes, it will help the government better clarify its priorities and increase its policy options.
Not that Taiwan's banking problems are insurmountable -- but because the island deserves a better financial system, and less so, a financial crisis.
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