<World Economy> The U.S/Japan initiative-$10 billion to help S.E.Asia.
Hey Paul:
How is this for an initiative, mind you this is in addition to Japan's earlier offer of $30 billion to help the battered nations in the region. And finally I have FOUR departing wordS-STABILIZATION followed by RECOVERY.
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Clinton resumes plans for a trip to Asia minus a planned stop in Malaysia -Clinton to Visit Japan, Korea This Week
Why Americans Should Care About APEC
U.S., Japan Announce $10b PlanTo Fight Asian Financial Crisis
Updated 8.26 a.m. ET (1326 GMT) November 16, 1998
By Martin Crutsinger
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The United States and Japan announced proposals tonight to pump an additional $10 billion into troubled Asian economies to help lift the region out of its worst economic crisis in decades.
The package of new proposals would include $5 billion in new support offered by the United States, and the creation of a $5 billion joint initiative supported by the United States, Japan, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Details of the measures were announced in Kuala Lumpur by Vice President Al Gore, who was attending an economic summit in place of President Clinton, and by a Japanese official in Tokyo.
According to Gore, the new $5 billion in U.S. support includes $1 billion each in loans to Indonesia, Thailand and South Korea, the three countries hardest hit by the Asia crisis. The remaining $2 billion will provide loan guarantees through the Overseas Private Investment Corp., a U.S. agency, to support private business deals.
"We want to do all we can to encourage trade and investment here, so American businesses can be an active partner in your growth and recovery," Gore told a meeting of business leaders. Gore repeated U.S. insistence that Asia will not be able to recover unless Japan does more to revive it own economy and deal with its troubled banking sector.
Because of legal restraints, the United States is not providing any direct financial support to the $5 billion joint initiative. The exact amounts that Japan, the World Bank and the Asian Bank will put up for this have yet to be determined.
The package of new proposals follows an offer last month by Japan to provide $30 billion in credit to ailing Asian economies. Gore's speech also made a direct reference to the troubles that have erupted in Malaysia since Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad fired and jailed his deputy prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim.
Gore said there were growing calls for democracy among many nations.
"We hear them today, _ right here, right now _ among the brave people of Asia," he said.
Clinton sent Gore to the conference so he could stay in Washington to handle the latest crisis with Iraq. A Malaysian newspaper took note of Clinton's dealings with Iraq, portraying him as Rambo in a cartoon.
At the bottom of the cartoon in the government-backed New Straits Times newspaper Monday, one small snake said to another, "Clinton is threatening war on Iraq!" The other replied: "An excuse not to attend the APEC summit."
Source:Reuters/fox |
