East Asian leaders to meet challenges of globalisation : Arroyo

Singapore, June 24 (UNI) While East Asia and the world are being confronted with the mounting complex challenges of globalisation, the region's leaders are capable of meeting those tests, the Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said today.

Addressing the opening session of World Economic Forum on East Asia in Singapore, she said the issue was not about a leadership deficit.

''The region has a number of strong nations, as well as institutions like ASEAN to provide individual, regional and multilateral global leadership.'' The real issue was the rapid economic rise of the region at a time when global order had undergone enormous swings, such as the rise of China and India, she said.

Ms Arroyo stressed that ASEAN was leading the way to create an East Asia community, once unthinkable and believed to be unattainable, by 2015.

''At a time of uncertainty in the world, ASEAN took a bold step forward and not a timid step back,'' she pointed.

The key challenge for East Asia's leaders remained to address the issue of urbanisation and the growing income inequality between rural and urban areas, Singapore's Foreign Minister Mr George Yeo stated.

He warned that absence of a global leadership would result in income inequality becoming more acute.

''It is in the cities, where all these problems will be concentrated. At that level, leadership will play the most critical role.'' Mr Yeo also stressed the importance of preparing the next generation for globalisation.

''Countries paying attention to education and value systems will do well. Those neglecting it are not in the game.'' Income inequality within a country is not just that nations's problem, remarked Mr Kim Byong-Joon, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Policy Planning of South Korea.

''This is a global problem that needs to be addressed by leaders of Asian economies.'' In the same session, the Indonesian Trade Minister Ms Mari Pangestu said that East Asia must continue to contribute to the multilateral trade negotiations under the World Trade Organization (WTO).

But the region must also show leadership by managing the proliferation of regional and bilateral free trade agreements.

''The business sector must take a leadership role here,'' she argued.

ASEAN, meanwhile, should concentrate on following through on its integration and community-building commitments, added the Secretary General of the grouping Mr Ong Keng-Yong.

''The coming years would see the leadership focus on implementation.'' A critical priority to address income disparities is infrastructure development, he noted.

Mr Carlos Ghosn, Co-Chairman of the World Economic Forum on East Asia, agreed that infrastructure, including water, energy and telecommunications was extremely important.

In South-East Asia, he observed, ambitious planning often led to poor implementation.

''We may have wonderful plans, but the execution is only five per cent,'' said Mr Ghosn, President and Chief Executive Officer of both Japanese car producer Nissan and French automaker Renault, as well as a member of the Forum's Foundation Board. ''The solution was not for government to get out of the way,'' he said. ''There are problems that only government can resolve.'' What is critical is faster action, Mr Ghosn concluded.

The World Economic Forum on East Asia, 16th such meeting to be convened in the region, has brought together over 300 business, government and civil society leaders from 26 countries to discuss the current challenges facing East Asia. Under the theme ''The Leadership Imperative for an Asian Century'', the two-day meeting was being held in partnership with Singapore Economic Development Board.

UNI