Participants at the ASEAN Finance Ministers' meeting agreed to boostcooperation and policy dialogues on economy among ASEAN members toconsolidate the regional monetary system, improve financial markets andact for sustainable development.
The meeting, which tookplace in Bali , Indonesia from April 7-8, identified the needs offurther strengthening internal cooperation in the coming time toeffectively cope with challenges and implement ASEAN Economic Communityroadmap.
At the April 8 session, Indonesian President SusiloBambang Yudhoyono stressed that emerged and developing economiescontinue to be a motive force of the global economic recovery.
However, ASEAN is facing shortcomings and challenges such as risks ofrising inflation due to the increase of fuel and food prices, tradeimbalance, poverty, climate change, natural disasters and insidedifficulties of each country in the bloc, he said.
In thecontext, to build a strong and sustainable ASEAN Economic Community,ASEAN needs to give priorities to three issues of cooperation withinthis year. The first is to ensure progresses in building the community.The second is to improve ASEAN connectivity and competitiveness tomaintain its “orientation” role in East Asia . Lastly, ASEAN shouldincrease its contributions to regional and global agreements and forums,especially the G-20 forum.
At the meeting, ASEAN membercountries have agreed to launch a new financial surveillance agency,Macro Economic Research Office (AMRO), which is scheduled to be set upon May 1 with the involvement of three ASEAN partners, which areChina, Japan and the Republic of Korea./.