Economists attending a regional economic forum have called on
Northeast Asian countries to build up a new cooperation mechanism
with trade liberalization and economic and technological
cooperation as the core.
"The new cooperation mechanism should be established in line with
the principle of mutual benefit, equality and consultation," said
Wang Luolin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Social
Sciences.
Wang is among more than 200 scholars who are at the eastern port
city Weihai to attend the 2002 Northeast Asian Economic Forum.
The Northeast Asian cooperation, unlike that within the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations and the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation, is among localities rather than nations.
The Northeast Asia region covers the Democratic People's Republic
of Korea (DPRK), The Republic of Korea (ROK), and part of China,
Japan, Russia and Mongolia. "Thus, the Northeast Asian cooperation
concentrates more on projects between the local governments of the
nations," Wang said.
The nations in Northeast Asia differ from economic development
levels and have their own advantages, he said, referring to Japan
and the ROK's capital and technology, China's labor and huge
market, and Russia's natural resources.
And the cultural exchanges between the nations in history also
provide good conditions for the cooperation, he said.
Yoshida Susumu, director of the ERINA research institute of Japan,
said to promote cooperation, the Northeast Asian nations should
concentrate on the following projects:
---The establishment of a long-term mechanism that ensures a
secure and stable energy supply for Asia, with the development of
the Kovykta gas field in Russia as the key. To date, progress has
been made in the cooperation between Russia, China and the ROK in
this project.
---The improvement of the transportation facilities.
---Continued international efforts to promote the development
of
the Tumen River area.
---The development of tourism.
Yoshida Susumu said that the Northeast Asian cooperation has
developed slowly over the past decades because of those problems
left over since the end of the cold war. At present, the ROK, the
U.S. and Japan have not achieved normalization of diplomatic ties
with the DPRK; some governments have shown no interest in
participating in economic development in this region; and there is
a lack of a financial institute responsible for raising capital for
the regional cooperation.
Most scholars at the forum called on the governments of the
Northeast Asian nations to actively participate in the regional
cooperation, especially to build up a Northeast Asian development
bank.
Cho Lee Jay, senior advisor to the East-West Center, said that the
Northeast Asian development bank will offer capital for
infrastructure construction, and for the research, education and
training needed for economic development.
All the experts said that enhancing economic cooperation in the
Northeast Asian region is not only a win-win deal to nations
involved, but will also help confront the uncertainty brought
about by the globalization.
(Xinhua News
Agency May 3, 2002)