Asean to forge ahead through global crises
Southeast Asia needs to push ahead with a regional free trade bloc and policies to cope with global financial crises, Indonesia’s government said yesterday. Indonesia’s Vice President Boediono, addressing trade ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said it was evident since the 2008 financial crisis that the United States and Europe could no longer be the main engines of growth for the world. He said sound economic fundamentals and policies had enabled ASEAN economies to bounce back by last year.
