JAKARTA,
May 30, 2012 (AFP) - Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Europe's economic woes could hit
Southeast Asia and warned the region against copying the integrated eurozone
model, in comments printed Wednesday.
Yudhoyono
told the Wall Street Journal that the slowdown in China's economic growth,
stoked by weak demand from Europe, will "impact directly on the economy in
this region".
The
10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has set 2015 as the
target for creating a single regional economic market, known as the ASEAN
Economic Community.
But
Yudhoyono, whose country has the biggest economy in ASEAN, said the region
"has to learn from what happened in Europe".
"I
have a strong belief that we shouldn't and we cannot imitate this structure,
the character, of the European Union," he added.
"We
prefer to have, of course, more structure" and more closely coordinated
policy, he said, "but we should not copy the eurozone model".
Southeast
Asian economies weathered a slowdown caused by the 2007/2008 financial crisis
and are booming as the eurozone struggles to climb out of debt and contain
rising unemployment.
Southeast
Asia has a population of around 600 million and a gross domestic product of
around $2 trillion, bigger that India's.
Analysts
have forecast Indonesia's economy to grow more than six percent this year, as
strong domestic demand buffers the nation of 240 million people from external
shocks.
But the
resource-rich country sells commodities such as coal and metals worth billions
of dollars each year to China, whose slowdown has weakened global commodity
prices.
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the model was fine when it seemed a success. asean would be a very useful organization to people in these regions if it copied the eu model. of course some countries (usa, china) surely would not love it. that's the reason why the usa is trying in any way possible to shoot the eu down and prevent others into forming similar blocs..such blocks are too tough competitors and have far too much power usa (or china) cannot easily control.
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