World Leaders Vow United Front

Asia-Europe Meeting ends with Beijing Declaration
Asia, Europe leaders pledge united front

By BEN R. ROSARIO

BEIJING, China (Via PLDT) – Forty-five leaders of nations in Asia and Europe pledged to put up a united front in seeking solutions to the global financial crisis that poses a serious threat to their financial stability and economic development.


Concluding the two-day Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) here, the heads of state of 16 Asian countries, 27 member states of the European Union, the president of the European Commission, and secretary- general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations signed the Beijing Declaration on sustainable development as they vowed not to lose track of the other global issues such as climate change, food security, and regional security.

The Beijing Declaration reaffirmed the commitment of the member- nations to be guided by the principles and objectives on sustainable development set by the United Nations.

The participating countries vowed to take an active part in the Nov. 15 international summit in Washington, DC, as they asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to play "a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request."

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, together with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso presided over a press conference after the closing ceremonies of the biennial summit.

The four said the twoday conference had been very fruitful and vowed to take concrete actions to carryout the sustainable development and financial programs.

They said the participating countries in the meeting called for the strengthening of coordination and cooperation to "restore market confidence and stabilize financial markets and promote global economic growth."

They said it has become imperative for them to "handle properly the relationship between financial innovation and regulation, and maintain sound macroeconomic policy."

They recognized the need to improve the supervision and regulation of all financial actors, in particular their accountability.

The leaders stressed that the IMF and other international financial institutions should "bring into play their mandated role in the international financial system, to help stabilize the international financial situation.

Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said there were candid exchanges of views on food security, disaster preparedness, sustainable development, and climate change during the meeting. The leaders agreed to continue strengthening areas of cooperation.

Citing the concerns on financial meltdown aired by Japan, China, Korea, Indonesia, and other Asian countries, Sarkozy said, " Europe would like to try and come up with a common position for a common response in this unprecedented financial crisis."

" We were very interested to hear certain Asian countries say they feel that global warming is a cause for concern. It is a cause of concern for Asia; then it is a problem for all of us," the French leader declared.

Bolkiah stated that as far as ASEAN is concerned, the meeting was the most important AsiaEurope Meeting they have ever attended.

Barroso noted that despite being wary about the financial crisis, " we did not forget other important issues – the challenge of climate change and the millennium development goals."

"Let us be clear. The financial crisis is not a reason to postpone our fight against climate change. We need to build on the consensus that were already reached in Bali. We need to agree on a comprehensive global agreement," he said.


Recession feared over poor economic data around the world


By ALAN WHEATLEY

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Asian and European leaders closed ranks Saturday to try to bolster the confidence of shell-shocked investors fearful that the year-long global credit crunch is mutating into a worldwide recession.

Poor economic data around the world and another international barrage of corporate profit warnings and job cuts triggered a brutal sell-off in stocks from Tokyo to New York.

"The danger of a collapse (on financial markets) is far from over. Any all-clear would be wrong," German Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said in an interview released Saturday.

"We are still in a dangerous situation. I am not going to mislead anyone and say we have got everything under control," he told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

The worries of political leaders were mirrored in the markets.

Seventy-nine years to the day after the 1929 crash that ushered in the Great Depression, currencies experienced extreme volatility, while oil and other commodities tumbled on fears of plummeting demand that would accompany a slowdown.

Many analysts declared that Europe was in recession after private-sector activity in the euro zone’s economy contracted at the fastest pace in at least a decade and Britain’s economy shrank 0.5 percent in the third quarter, much more than expected.

"The euro area has entered a deep recessionary spiral," said Aurelio Maccario, chief euro zone economist at Italian bank UniCredit.

The financial crisis, set off by a US housing market collapse nearly 15 months ago, claimed another victim.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc agreed to purchase ailing Ohio-based National City Corp in a government-supported $ 5.6-billion deal that will create the No. 5 US bank by deposits.

National City has been crippled by its soured mortgage loans.

PNC was one of four regional banks that said itwould receive cash infusions under a $ 250-billion bank recapitalisation program that is part of the US Treasury’s wider $ 700-billion US financial services rescue package.

The Treasury, which has already committed half that sum to nine of the largest US banks, was studying how it could give relief to bond and mortgage insurance firms under the program, two sources familiar with the deliberations said.

Washington may also bail out the car industry. General Motors has intensified negotiations to buy Chrysler’s auto operations, but intends to seek US government support for any deal, people familiar with the talks told Reuters.

Citadel Investment Group, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, reacted to market talk it had asked the US government for a cash injection by disclosing it has more than $ 10 billion in available credit.

The financial crisis has injected urgency into the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of 27 EU member states and 16 Asian countries. Meeting in Beijing, the leaders pledged cooperation to tackle the turmoil by taking "firm, decisive, and effective measures in a responsible and timely manner."