Singapore, Nov 10 (DPA) World Bank President Robert Zoellick Tuesday praised Asia’s positive attitude in overcoming the global recession, saying that one critical outcome of the crisis was how Asia and the Asia-Pacific continued to work together.
“Most of the focus coming out of Europe in this crisis is now focused on regulation, compensation, bonuses,” Zoellick said in Singapore on the sidelines of the annual summit of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
“It’s quite intriguing to come to Asia where the sense is that if you have a slow growth path, the real challenge is what structural changes you need to have to increase the possibility of growth,” he said.
“I found that very healthy,” Zoellick added.
“And it actually is very important as one considers future global arrangements that we hear more of that in the global context,” he said.
The Singapore APEC summit kicked off with meetings by senior officials last weekend and is set to culminate when the leaders of the member states – including US President Barack Obama – come together in the city-state Saturday and Sunday.
APEC, which marks its 20th anniversary this year, consists of 21 Pacific Rim economies, bringing together rich developed nations and countries where a large number of people still live in poverty.
The forum includes Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Peru, Russia, the US and Vietnam.
APEC is home to more than 2.7 billion people and represents about 54 percent of the global gross domestic product and 44 percent of world trade.
