US NEEDS TO BE MORE OPEN-MINDED AND HUMBLE IN TACKLING FINANCIAL CRISIS

KUALA LUMPUR, March 19 (Bernama) -- The United States should be more
open-minded and humble in dealing with the current financial crisis and
start by emulating Asean's way, which has been proven to be successful, CIMB
Group chief executive, Nazir Razak said Wednesday.

He said this could be done by studying models such as Malaysia's Danaharta
and the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

In fact, he said the US should be inviting former Prime Minister Dr
Mahatir Mohamed or Bank Negara Malaysia governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz to advise
on the best way to deal with the present difficulties.

"I would argue that there hasn't been enough humility and open-mindedness in
trying to solve the crisis," Nazir said in his speech at the CIMB Private
Banking Investment Conference here. CIMB is Malaysia's second largest financial
provider.

He said the country was bracing itself for a long road to recovery as of
now because the global banking crisis hasn't been fixed though the economic
downturn is already quite severe.

"Why is the US studying the Swedish "bad bank" model when Asean's Danaharta
and IBRA are the most recent success stories? Also, why is there such hesitation
in looking to Islamic finance as a model for the new global financial
architecture?"

"Why aren't they inviting Dr. Mahathir or Zeti to advise them and why
did the US criticise Chinese economic policies when China is its biggest
lender?" he noted.

He said until there was more humility and willingness to absorb all ideas
and views, the antidote for the financial crisis might remain sub-optimal.

Sadly, he added, the brutality of the crisis was such that it wasn't
difficult to imagine it morphing into a global currency or a political crisis.

"This is where the coming G20 meeting in April would prove to be absolutely
crucial in dealing with it," he said.
-- BERNAMA