"ASIAN TIGERS" unite with European values
“ASIA TIGERS” join forces with European values
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) may become the main drivers of global economic growth. Singapore's economy grew 9.2% for the quarter, and the other Asian "tigers" in addition to South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, and the region's other countries, Japan and China, are also showing impressive rates of recovery.
One of the most dynamic Asian tigers, Singapore, showed its economy grew by 9.2% in the third quarter relative to the previous quarter. The value was higher than forecasts, expecting growth of only 7.9%. The data were released by the country's Ministry of Trade and Industry on November 23, 2021.
The record growth in the third quarter was partly due to a low-base effect, as Singapore's economy collapsed by 13.2% in the second quarter amid a pandemic. If Singapore's GDP continues to recover at this rate, the decline will still be recorded at the end of this year, but in 2021 it is projected to be plus 4-6%.
The "Asian tigers" also traditionally include South Korea, which also shows economic growth. In the first quarter of the pandemic, Korea's GDP shrank 1.3% compared with the fourth quarter of last year, according to the local central bank. This was the biggest drop since the third quarter of 2008, when Korea's GDP shrank 3.3%. The decline occurred in almost all sectors of the economy, including industrial production. Exports fell 3% and imports fell 3.8% from the previous quarter. Consumption declined 13.8%, the most since 1998.
Chief economists and researchers at the Bank for Reconstruction and Development recall that the euro was the result of political and economic integration of the European Union, now the time has come for the creation of a single Asian digital currency.
Southeast Asian countries are planning to create an analogue of the euro in the near future. Alredy in July 2022 there will be a "United Asian Token" that will unite the monetary units of 13 countries in the region.
The new currency unit will reflect the average value of currencies of China, Japan, South Korea and 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It will also take into account the GDP growth of each country, the volume of foreign trade and the level of participation of the currency in international payments.
At the initial stage it will not be a full-fledged legal tender, but will function as a unit of account like the predecessor of the euro, introduced in 1979 in the EU countries - the "European Currency Unit" (ECU). In the future, according to the plan of the Asian monetary authorities, the single currency could be equal in importance to the euro.
Masahiro Kawai, head of ADB's regional economic department, has already expressed the hope that in 20 years the UNAS will be transformed from a unit of account into the single currency of Asia. "But before that, it is necessary to create a single economic space with the free movement of labor, goods and services" the banker said.
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