EAST ASIAN COUNTRIES MUST QUICKLY RESPOND TO GLOBAL CRISIS, SAYS M'SIAN PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 4 (Bernama) -- Malaysia believes East Asian countries must
quickly respond to the global crisis plaguing the world, Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi said Thursday.

He said the Asean Plus Three process must be taken to a higher level in an
effort to get out of the global economic crisis.

"If we in East Asia are to be relevant and beneficial to our
constituencies,
we must raise our game by setting new goals and take massive collective
actions," he said .

"East Asia must make a difference and Asean must be the pivote on which
regionl cooperation must hinge," he said in his keynote address at the 6th East
Asian Congress.

Abdullah said the ramifications of the global economic crisis were much
larger than many economies had anticipated while governments too should be
blamed for being complacent with the passage of time.

"We thought that if we keep our houses in order we could avoid any crisis.
It was taken for granted that the world's trade lanes would remain open and that
protectionism would not be a factor.

"It was also assumed that the mammoth budget and trade deficits on one side
of the pacific and over savings on the other would correct themselves.

"It was thought that increasingly poor income distribution would not have
any impact on world demand," he added.
-- BERNAMA