Roundup: Asia's Stock Markets Well Positioned for GrowthAsia's stock markets are still well positioned for growth in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States, stock exchange executives told a session of the East Asia Economic Summit 2001 in Hong Kong, which concluded on Wednesday.The executives also believed that China's economic growth would fuel trading opportunities for exchanges across the region, accelerating a trend that reflects the increasing number of fund managers doing business in Asia. After the events of September 11, many of the Asian stock market underscored the previous remarks despite they took a number of measures to boost investors' confidence, the executives told the three-day summit was organized by the World Economic Forum. Opening the session on the future of Asian stock markets, George Ugeux, group executive vice-president of the New York Stock Exchange, said that no one can say stock exchanges don't matter anymore after the events of September 11, and the terrorist attacks affirmed the importance of price discovery in the aftermath of such an event. Thomas Kloet, chief executive officer of Singapore Stock Exchange, said his exchange's decision to open for business on September 12 was a vital service to its customers, and it is taking a number of measures to remain relevant despite Singapore's small size, including public-listing the exchange, improving decision-making processes and offering more direct access to products through technology. Despite the recent grip of similar terrorist attacks, Philippine Stock Exchange has made a plea for investors to reconsider their retrenchment from the country, said Felipe U. Yap, chairman of the exchange. Yap said his stock market is well positioned for growth, noting that Philippine companies have become better corporate citizens and his exchange has adopted the best practices of the World Federation of Exchange. Jungho Kang, president and chief executive officer of Kosdaq Stock Market of South Korea, predicted his exchange will soon overtake South Korea's much older physical stock exchange in traded market value. He attributed Kosdaq's growth to South Korea's strong technology sector, which is heavily represented in the exchange. Chief Operating Officer of Hong Kong Exchange & Clearing Frederick J. Grede is confident that technology will lead to more competition between Asian exchanges and between brokers. Grede saw online trading taking off Hong Kong and his exchange will need to reach out to other exchanges and foreign investors to increase its customer base. The Hong Kong exchange must also provide more products, especially those that address the China's mainland market and international institutional investors, Grede stressed. The executives also believed that three issues most affect the future allocation of capital to Asian countries, namely, tax policies, trade policies and monetary policies, and of the three, monetary policies demand the most urgent attention. |
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