Asia's developing economies face a chillier economic environment this year as growth falters in the United States and Japan, but the risk of a second regional economic crisis is remote, a UN agency said Tuesday.

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) said in its annual survey that the slower world economy w'ould reduce growth in the region by one to two percentage points this year compared with 2000.

ESCAP Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su told a news conference the south and southwest Asia region would grow 5.8 per cent in 2001, while southeast Asia would grow

4.0 to 4.5 per cent and east and north Asia 5.6 to 6.4 per cent.

The forecasts were revised down earlier this year due to the unexpectedly harsh global slowdown.

“Growth will almost certainly slow down on account of slower demand for exports," Kim said.

"But the region, and more particularly the crisis economies, are far less vulnerable to a crisis in 2001".

Many Asian economies particularly Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, are still struggling to recover from the financial crisis that hit the region in 1997.

Kim said short-term debt across the region was now significantly below 1997 levels, while their foreign reserves were com-

fortable, making another crisis unlikely.

He said the main challenge faced by Asia-Pacific's developing countries was maintaining a healthy pace of growth in the face of a less favourable external environment.

Another major problem facing the region’s economies was attracting the aid they needed to develop. ESCAP said.

“It is no secret that donors are now fatigued,” Kim said.

The report said there was a declining trend in aid payments as a proportion of GDP of donor countries, and the "present level of per capita contributions is a miniscule proportion of per capita income in most donor countries."