Asean Should Not Auto-Pilot Its Economy, Says Prof Kishore

KUALA LUMPUR, June 13 (Bernama) -- Asean economies must stop from turning on the "auto-pilot" mode to prevent the occurrence of a financial or a debt crisis similar to what is currently happening in the United States and Europe. The Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, Prof Kishore Mahbubani said Asean, as the world's most prominent emerging economy, should never be complacent on the records it has achieved, but in reality must look at the future. He said the United States and Europe are in crisis today mainly because they failed to realise the storm which was ahead of them, a storm which shifted the global economic paradigm. "The United States and Europe thought they have achieved it. They turned on the auto-pilot mode. So, the nations' economies went on a stagnant mode. A mode that can be destroyed by any financial storm. "They stopped learning and they collapsed. If that could happen to former economic powerhouses, won't it happen to emerging Asean economies?" Kishore asked when delivering his keynote address at the CIMB Asean Conference 2012 here Wednesday. Kishore said that even with the worsening crisis in Europe, Asean still has somethings to be learned from the latter. "In Asean, we have zero wars, but in Europe, it is zero prospects of war. Same goes where Asean should learn from Europe on how to lift trade barriers and enhance regional cooperation. "Asean still has a lot to learn from Europe but the reality is that it knows it has to learn and do not think that it has achieved the peak of success. "The Asean economies as the emerging ones also wants Europe to succeed from the crisis because if Europe fails, it means everyone fails as Europe is still a large piece of the global economy," he said. Kishore said the Asean economies are the potential beneficiaries of the greater US-China cooperation as the "sweet spot" of economic, geopolitical and cultural diversity is in the region comprising 10 countries. He said Asean, which was neglected after the Cold War, now has the right population, right strategic collaborations and right location. Responding to a question from the floor, Kishore said: "Only for these reasons, Asean is getting showered with free trade agreements now. "Europe today represents the past, America today is the present and the future lies in Asia, more particularly Asean." Besides being an educationist, Kishore also sits on several boards and international organisations, among them, the Indian Prime Minister's Global Advisory Council, World Economic Forum -- Global Agenda Council on China -- and Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs. He was also President of the United Nations Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. -- BERNAMA