Leaders of 16 Asian countries gave high priority yesterday to finding a new economic growth model to free half the world’s population from merely serving as producers for the West, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said.
Abhisit said the leaders gave such a search “the utmost importance” at the annual East Asian Summit, which concluded yesterday.
He told a press conference that Asian countries would have to strengthen their domestic markets and further liberalize regional trade.
“The old growth model where, simply put, we have still to rely on consumption in the West for goods and services produced here will no longer serve us in the future,” said Abhisit, who hosted the meeting.
Asian leaders, a conference document said, noted that the region has shown signs of recovery from the global crisis and “regained its pace of economic growth.”
“East Asia could therefore play a crucial role in driving global economic recovery and in reforming the international financial architecture,” it said, noting that the Asian Development Bank recently revised its forecasts for East Asian economic growth from 3.4 percent to 3.9 percent this year and 6 percent to 6.4 percent next year.
The East Asia Summit followed meetings on Saturday of leaders from the 10-member ASEAN with heads of government from China, Japan and South Korea.
Yesterday’s expanded talks brought in Australia, New Zealand and India.
The 16 leaders represent almost half the world’s population and more than a third of the global GDP, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said.
The three-day conference included the launch of Southeast Asia’s first human rights watchdog and talks on economic integration of ASEAN by the year 2015, disaster management, climate change and military-ruled Myanmar, an ASEAN member widely criticized internationally for its human rights violations.
Abhisit said Myanmar Prime Minister General Thein Sein told other leaders that he welcomed signs of engagement from various regions, a reference to Washington’s recent announcement that it would seek high-level dialogue rather than shunning the junta.
Thein Sein also said he was optimistic that democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, held in detention for 14 years, could contribute to reconciliation.
“ASEAN has always argued that engagement is the right approach. We feel that if everybody takes this approach we would be encouraging Myanmar in her successful implementation of her own road map [to democracy],” Abhisit said.
Southeast Asian leaders on Saturday called on Myanmar to conduct free and fair elections next year, when the junta has promised to hold the first polls in two decades.
Activists criticized the bloc for failing to take a tougher stand against one of the world’s worst human rights offenders.
The conference signed or noted 43 documents, several focused on economic integration.
ASEAN countries have haltingly tried to integrate their economies and are seeking to eliminate trade barriers within the bloc to bring about an EU-style grouping by 2015.
“Over the past year we have proved that ASEAN continues to move forward. We have risen to the challenges of the times,” Abhisit said, noting regional cooperation in coping with the global economic crisis, swine flu and several natural disasters in the region.
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