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Call for Asian economic bloc

ANN/The Star
Asian economies will not be able to expand for long and will lag behind bigger players if a strong monetary union or economic bloc is notformed, finance and economics academician Prof DrSGhon Ree said.
"If we do not have it in the next 20 to 30 years, we will then just remain as individual players that are unable to compete with powers like the United States and countries in the European Union," said Ree, the executive director of the University of Hawaii Asia-Pacific Financial Market research centre.
Asian economies tend to operate as isolated markets which are not
integrated into global market activities, a trend that is detrimental to Asia.
To tackle this issue, Ree suggests that an Asian common currency and an Asian Bond Bank (ABB) be implemented.
"By having a common currency, it eliminates exchange risks and allows for a more liquid and homogenous bond market," he told reporters after giving a lecture on Asean+3: Asian Bond Market Initiatives Thursday, the first of a lecture series titled "Tun Ismail Mohamed Ali Chair in Investment and Finance", of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
The ABB will also help lower borrowing costs, result in greater
liquidity and improve credit ratings for Asian borrowers, he added.
Ree, who holds the position of Chair in Investment and Finance under this series, said the ABB would be able to assist small- and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) with financing, which was important, as SMEs usually made up 70 per cent of any country's economy.
He added that Malaysia or South Korea would be able to lead other Asian countries to form this ABB as the two countries had sophisticated and well-developed bond markets.
Ree, who studied in universities in South Korea and the United States, said among the reasons for small intra- and inter-regional investments
in Asian bonds was the issue of red tape. This might result in institutional investors from the United States and Europe avoiding Asian bonds due to the uncertainty of their quality and risks.
Ree said Asian countries tended to practise regionalism - these markets isolate themselves from global players.
"This is seen through indicators such as having only Asian rating agencies, Asian borrowers and investors as players in the Asian bond market, without the inclusion of international investors," he said.
This will lead to limited bond buyers, discourage competition and increase borrowing costs.