Concluding day of World Economic Forum on East Asia

16 Jun '06

3 min read

World Economic Forum (WEF) declares that even as East Asian countries integrate, they should not ignore their global responsibilities, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman, World Economic Forum, told participants on the second and final day of the World Economic Forum on East Asia. During a plenary session on regional integration, Schwab called for more attention to be paid to global issues.

"The challenge we have in the 21st Century is to reconcile our global, national and regional identities," Schwab said. "The key will be to make sure we keep up to our global responsibilities."

Earlier, Schwab had expressed concern that current global institutions are not able to meet the challenges posed by the range of risks the world faces. "We concentrate too much of our efforts on regional institutions instead of really focusing on where there is a need – on the construction of global institutions. We do not have the global structures in place. Practically all our organizations are construction sites."

During the session, panellists discussed what would be the appropriate model for East Asian integration. They agreed that, instead of aiming to emulate the European Union, East Asia should continue to pursue what Sadako Ogata, President, Japan International Cooperation Agency, termed a "bottom-up" approach in which NGOs, business and other non-state actors drive integration and cooperation.

Ong Keng-Yong, Secretary-General, ASEAN, Jakarta, underscored the progress in regional integration that South-East Asia has achieved through ASEAN over nearly four decades. He pointed to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) as an example. "We are not so much working on institutions. We are working on various mechanisms that start off informally and then develop into something more substantial."

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