EMERGING ASIA TO BE GLOBAL GROWTH DRIVER IN 2010, SAYS ALLIANZ

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- The economic upswing in the Asian emerging
market economies is expected to continue next year, supported by an ongoing
stimulus from the fiscal and monetary policy side as well as clear recovery in
world trade.

Emerging Asia as a whole is likely to grow by 6.7 per cent, said Allianz SE,
one of the world's leading insurers and financial services providers.

Gross domestic product (GDP) growth should reach 8.7 per cent in China and
6.5 per cent in India, it said in a statement released here Monday.

"This means that Asia will contribute almost 39 per cent to the expected
increase in global economic output of 2.8 per cent next year," said Allianz's
chief economist Michael Heise.

For Malaysia, the economy is expected to pick up considerably by 4.0 per
cent next year, the group said.

According to Allianz, emerging Asia has weathered the most severe global
economic downturn seen since World War II better than other regions in the
world.

"It was affected, but nonetheless managed to avoid an outright economic
contraction. Stimulated by a huge fiscal package and strong lending growth, the
Chinese economy has gained momentum from one quarter to the next in 2009," it
said.

Allianz said over the course of the year, one after another major Asian
emerging market country has also managed to revert to growth.

"Thanks mainly to the solid performance of China and India, regional GDP
will show an increase of 4.8 per cent this year. This is quite impressive, given
that at the same time global economic output will contract by more than 2.0 per
cent," Heise said.

"You can call Asia, and China in particular, a relatively stable ship in
stormy seas," he said.

Heise said emerging Asia, which has been driven by booming exports, should
change its growth model and must focus on domestic demand and on private
consumption if it hoped to continue recording strong growth.

He said the United States was unlikely to re-emerge as the source of such
powerful demand and import growth that it used to be.

"Nevertheless, emerging Asia will continue to be the most dynamic growth
region in the world," he added.

On the group's outlook, Allianz Asia Pacific's chief executive officer Bruce
Bowers said Allianz was confident about its insurance business in Asia and
expected to continue deliver profitability and sustainable growth in the region.

"We have taken significant steps to strengthen our operating platforms
across Asia over the last two years," Bowers said.

"In 2010, our focus will remain on customer service quality and the further
implementation of our group operating model," he said.

-- BERNAMA