  Summit addresses money matters over minds By Ioannis Gatsiounis KUALA LUMPUR - The second Asia Economic Summit, held this week here, was significant for its predictability; for its participants' tendencies to talk of Asia's emergence and nation-building almost solely in economic terms - only superficially addressing topic questions, such as, "Can Asia's economic recovery and prosperity be sustained? " or "Will Asia stop growing? " There were many calls for market liberalization; few for social, creative, and intellectual liberation. Maybe that's to be expected at an economic forum. But it's hardly practical, for the degree to which the latter takes hold in Asian countries may well separate the haves from the have-nots between them in coming years.
The buzzword in Asia continues to be "export", touted as the key to development. Everyone wants to be an exporter, but markets are finite. Not all these countries can be successful exporters, and among those that will be, many will have to find ways to offset advantages, such as low production costs, that favor competing nations. Many Asian leaders and analysts have dismissed a connection between social, creative and intellectual liberation and economic growth.
They often cite Singapore, the one country in this region to have legitimately moved from developing to developed status. Singapore has become a highly competitive economy, despite being an authoritarian state, where freedom of expression has been curbed in the name of nation-building. For the most part, Singaporeans have gone along with the script. But polls show an increasing number of Singaporeans are worried about job security and the changes brought on by globalization; last year the economy grew by a meager 1.1%. If the trend continues, Singaporeans will likely have to use their minds in ways that, until now, their government has discouraged.
An Associated Press headline noted this week, "Outgoing Singapore prime minister urges more public involvement in mapping country's future. " In a word, Singapore's leaders need ideas. And good ideas are most likely to flow in abundance in open societies. Politically and socially closed societies may bode well for short-term economic growth - nothing like servile cooperation to get things rolling - but generally they lack the elasticity to sustain an optimum level of performance in an ever-changing world. It is the liberated mind that caters best to long-term success. A look at the United States illustrates this point. When, for instance, US steel manufacturers closed domestic factories in the 1980s and fled for Japan to take advantage of cheaper production costs, pundits started writing their obituaries for the US economy. But in the 1990s the United States added 32 million workers to its payrolls and unemployment plummeted to a three-decade low. Productivity also soared, but largely on the coattails of innovation; the dot-com boom may have been short-lived, but it was the United States that led the march.
Why did this happen? In no small part because of Americans' knack for reinventing themselves and redirecting markets, where a more submissive population would see only gloom. No doubt the new millennium poses new challenges to all nations, and there is little guarantee that US economic dominance will continue. But Asian leaders are taking a closer look at what factors sustain an economy. Talk is going beyond high productivity, low costs, value-added and other economic catch phrases, to address what drives these things. As Malaysian Education Minister Hishamuddin Tun Hussein Onn said in a speech at the conference, "Because we will have to learn to live with increasing measures of social and economic risk, we need a broad strategy to ground our ability to face any sort of particular condition with creativity and flexibility. " Unlike most conference participants, who tended to ignore the effect social, creative, and intellectual liberation would have on such a strategy, Onn was the first really to address the seemingly non-economic factors that impact economies. "Our most important assets will be innovative people who are soundly and comfortably based in their own communities, who are able to innovate from a particular cultural base," he said. Others at the conference echoed this need. And they seem to have a basic grasp of what it will take.
"It has always been important to Malaysia's leaders that Malaysia's communities are harmonious and open to the world; that they are vibrant, 'learning communities', and 'intelligent communities'," said Onn. But what it will take and what regional governments will allow have often been at odds. Malaysia, for instance, has kept a feudalistic grip on its citizenry. Authorities are known to beat and jail peaceful demonstrators. The government and its minions consider race and religion too sensitive to discuss; the media are state- and self-censored.
University students don't have the right to assemble - making the education minister's remarks more than a bit ironic. He has advocated no plan to address long-standing policies that have crippled the kind of well-rounded growth he speaks of. As one conference participant wryly noted, Onn's speech "was as personalized and sincere as a greeting card". Onn, the son of former prime minister Tun Hussein Onn, left the hall smiling triumphantly for the flashing camera bulbs. Meanwhile, in neighboring Singapore, new Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday, "[Singaporeans] may have to learn new skills and take on new responsibilities.
" And his staff during the run-up to his swearing-in on Thursday vowed to be more open and value more public input. Both countries have begun to acknowledge the consequences of their iron-fisted, elitist policies - what for a long time were passed off as Asian values. But Asian values are rapidly evolving, right along with the world. And adopting a receptive rather than resistant approach may prove the best way for Asian governments to keep up. (Copyright 2004 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact urlLink content@atimes.com for information on our sales and syndication policies. ) 
