THAILAND: The Chinese Premier, Mr Wen Jiabao, will join leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a Bangkok summit next week on the SARS crisis, which has wrought economic havoc in the region, it was announced in Thailand yesterday.
"Chinese Prime Minister Wen will attend the meeting next Tuesday," Thai Foreign Minister Mr Surakiart Sathirathai told reporters. "The meeting will be divided into two sessions, an ASEAN session and ASEAN plus China," he said. "If ASEAN and China can agree about co-operation [on SARS] it will boost confidence for tourists to come back to the region." The April 29th summit will be Mr Wen's first overseas mission since taking office last month," Mr Surakiart added.
The unprecedented summit was the initiative of Singapore Prime Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong, and is to be chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia, the current ASEAN chairman. The 10-member ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Half have reported SARS deaths. Summit host Thailand has reported just eight cases of the disease, including two deaths, but like most countries in the region its economy, particularly tourism, is being hammered as SARS fears lead to plummeting business travel and tourism.
China is predicted by some economists to lose at least 1 percentage point in GDP growth this year, a development that could hamper growth in several economies in the region.
Its government came in for intense international condemnation last week as the World Health Organisation (WHO) accused China of failing to accurately report its SARS statistics. The WHO has also been invited to participate in the Bangkok summit. The announcement of Mr Wen's participation in the meeting followed several conflicting statements by Thai officials in the past week over whether China had actually been invited to attend.
- (AFP)