The East Asia Summit and regional financial cooperation
East Asia Summit ministers attend the Retreat Session of East Asia Summit Consultation on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings in Nusa Dua, Bali on July 22, 2011. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Eko NM Saputro

One of the priority areas for regional cooperation at the East Asia Summit (EAS) has been finance. At the last EAS Leaders’ summit in Hanoi last year this area was given special attention along with education, energy, disaster management and avian flu prevention.

The Leaders’ focus on financial cooperation was both timely and relevant in the current uncertain economic climate. Read more…

Where to for ASEAN+3’s Macroeconomic Research Office?
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono deliveres speech during the opening ceremony of the 18th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit at Jakarta Convention Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, 07 May 2011. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Eko Saputro, Deakin University

The 14th ASEAN+3 Finance Minister’s Meeting (AFMM+3) in Hanoi, Vietnam, has welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO), whose job it will be to maintain surveillance of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM), and support its full operation.

As regional self-help mechanism, the CMIM aims to provide liquidity support arrangement in response to short-term liquidity difficulty during crisis, and also becomes a supplement for the existing international support fund facility. Read more…