Top News // Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Recession far from bottoming out, says PM Lee
Imelda Saad
imelda@mediadorp.com.sg
IT MAY still be early days to declare that the recession has bottomed out.
Even though the United States has spoken of potential green shoots in the economy, what has happened is that things are turning bad slower, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the South Korean resort island of Jeju yesterday.
Speaking at the Asean-South Korea Summit, Mr Lee urged countries to persevere with reforms and consolidation, especially in support of free trade.
He said if countries heed ground pressures to “buy local”, they will be worse off.
“Keeping markets open is the best way to help everyone recover and grow,” said Mr Lee. He added the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), which Singapore chairs this year, can help to keep markets open.
He said Apec stands ready to work with other international groupings like the G20, which South Korea now chairs.
But even as governments focus on fixing the economy, Mr Lee pointed out they must not neglect long-term issues like climate change. Mr Lee said regional forums like the East Asia Summit Liveable Cities Conference, which Singapore hosted last year, is a good platform for countries to exchange best practices and ideas.
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