PIF secretary general: Global financial crisis "could affect Pacific stability"

SUVA, June 5 (Xinhua) -- The economic impacts of the global economy on the
Pacific may also be a driver for insecurity, and in some cases a catalyst for
criminality, posing a threat to the stability and security of the Pacific
region.

Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, Tuiloma Neroni Slade, made
the warning Thursday at the opening of the annual Forum Regional Security
Committee meeting at the Forum Secretariat in Suva.

Slade said the region has become a target of new organized crime group
entities attempting to exploit vulnerabilities in banking and financial sectors
and also the illicit movement of drugs, weapons and people.

He added that the Pacific region continues to face complex law enforcement
challenges and support to agencies responsible for law enforcement remains a
high priority for all the countries in the region.

"It is clear from the variety of investigations undertaken in the last year
that the region continues to be targeted by individuals and groups attempting to
undertake a range of transnational criminal activity. These include the illicit
movement of drugs, weapons and people. We are even beginning to witness
incidences of new organized crime groups entities attempting to exploit
vulnerabilities in our banking and financial sectors," the Fijilive website
quoted Slade as saying.

The Forum members heard that the area of border security will be tested
with the lack of response to commercial fraud.

The region has been urged to make a move toward traditional law enforcement
and compliance priorities.

"No one country can feasibly manage alone in today's world, where the
problems of one neighbor invariably affect the next. Peace and security in our
region are inextricably linked to peace and stability in our respective member
countries; and much depends on the mutuality of needed cooperation on issues of
common concerns."

The two-day FRSC meeting was attended by representatives of Forum member
countries as well as regional law enforcement and security stakeholders.

Fiji was not invited to the meeting after being suspended from the Forum
last month for failing to meet the island body's demand to issue a 2009 general
election date by May 1.

Special Report:
Global Financial
Crisis

World leaders call for global cooperation to address financial crisis

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

Backgrounder: World Economic
Forum

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Global
cooperation, rather than a retreat from globalization, is the best approach for
solving the current financial crisis, world leaders said here Friday.

When attending the World Economic Forum annual
meeting in Davos, Switzerland, leaders from Britain, Mexico, South Korea and
South Africa agreed that global cooperation could set a pattern for dealing with
other international challenges, such as climate change, poverty and energy
security.

Founder and Executive Chairman of the
World Economic Forum (WEF) Klaus Schwab (2nd L) speaks at the session "Why
We Need a New System of Global Cooperation?" at the Annual Meeting 2009 of
the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 30, 2009.(Xinhua/World Economic
Forum Swiss-Image.ch)
Photo
Gallery

They called for coordinated actions on a number of
areas, including fiscal and monetary policy measures to stabilize the global
financial system and revive economic growth, reform and recapitalization of the
major multilateral lending institutions, and a resumption of stalled free trade
talks to combat a dangerous turn to protectionism.

Public and private sectors should work together to
solve global problems, the leaders said.

"We need to recognize that these problems were
created by humans and can be solved by humans," British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown said.

"Rather than losing faith and letting the
protectionists take over, or returning to a failed laissez-faire model that says
there is nothing we can do, we have to grapple with these problems and prove we
can come together and solve them," he added.

Brown called on governments to consider "radical
options" for dealing with the problem, such as risk-sharing schemes that would
insure banks and other investors against further losses on toxic assets, saying,
"We need international discussion on what is the best model."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2nd
R) speaks at the session "Reviving Economic Growth" at the Annual Meeting
2009 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 30, 2009.
(Xinhua/World Economic Forum Swiss-Image.ch)
Photo Gallery

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said one key lesson
from the previous crisis in the 1930s was the urgency for working out a policy
response, recognizing that delay increases both the economic damage and the
ultimate cost to taxpayers.

South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo cited his
country's experience during the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis as an example
of how great the costs of a financial rescue can be.

He said South Korea spent the equivalent of 16
percent of its GDP shoring up the country's corporations and financial
institutions during the crisis.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said
developed countries should put their own governance in order if they want to be
offered a better seat at the international table.

South African President Kgalema
Motlanthe speaks at the session "Reviving Economic Growth" at the Annual
Meeting 2009 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan.
30, 2009.(Xinhua/World Economic Forum Swiss-Image.ch)
Photo Gallery

Motlanthe also called for a speedy conclusion to the
stalled Doha Round of multilateral trade talks.

Meanwhile, the leaders warned that the financial
crisis might be generating a protectionist backlash in some countries, arguing
that such measures would risk a repetition of the disastrous collapse in world
trade during the 1930s.

Backgrounder: World Economic Forum

Special Report: Premier Wen's "trip of Confidence" to Europe

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Geneva-based non-governmental international organization committed to promoting the world's economic cooperation and exchanges.

The forum, initially known as the European Management Forum, was founded by Klaus M. Schwab, a business professor in Switzerland, in 1971.

In 1987, the European Management Forum changed its name to the World Economic Forum.

The foundation, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, is also called "Davos Forum."

The forum, aimed at improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas, brings together top business leaders, international political leaders as well as selected intellectuals and experts.

With the international situation constantly changing, issues addressed by the forum have gone far beyond the scope of economy. Its agenda now includes the most pressing problems facing the world, ranging from political, military and security concerns to bilateral and regional issues.

The forum has more than 1,000 members currently, all of which are major companies driving the world economy forward. A typical member company is a global enterprise with more than 5 billion U.S. dollars in turnover, though the latter varies by industry and region.

The forum also forges strategic and industry partnerships with its selected members. It sponsors international economic seminars each year jointly with state governments or enterprises worldwide.

With an increasing global influence, the forum has been hailed as the "top-level non-governmental global economic forum."

It has also become the world's most important non-governmental gathering where international political leaders, business leaders as well as leaders of civil and social organizations could exchange views on global economic issues.

Some 2,500 people turned up at the annual Davos meeting on Jan.23-27, 2008. The participants included some 27 state or government leaders, over 110 ministers and many well-known business and political leaders.

Under the theme of "The Power of Collaborative Innovation," the2008 Davos Forum held discussions and debates on a variety of issues such as financial market turmoil, economic uncertainties, the climate change, energy situation and food security.

The forum invited the first Chinese delegation to Davos in 1979. In June 2006, the forum opened its regional office in Beijing.

Internet, Imagine sessions of Boao Forum for Asia

Special Report: Boao Forum For Asia
2009

Delegates attend the session with the
theme of ¡°Another Winter for Internet? Driving Growth Through Innovation¡±,
during the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) Annual Conference 2009 in Boao, south
China¡¯s Hainan Province, April 18, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhao
Yingquan)
Photo
Gallery

Jackie CHAN, Vice Chairman of China Film
Association attends the session with the theme of ¡°Imagine-Asia: Tapping
into Asia¡¯s Creative-Industry Potential¡±, during the Boao Forum for Asia
(BFA) Annual Conference 2009 in Boao, south China¡¯s Hainan Province, April
18, 2009. (Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)
Photo
Gallery