Asian leaders call for more regional integration to avert financial crises

Thai minister requests long-term finance mechanism for countries in need of assistance

Asia's financial leaders called for greater regional integration to prevent a recurrence of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, at a conference in Manila last week marking its 10-year anniversary.

Speaking at the conference, hosted by the Asian Development Bank on July 2, Thai finance minister Chalongphob Sussangkarn said Asia needs to put some of its $3 trillion in international reserves back into the region and develop a long-term finance mechanism for countries in need of assistance. "We need to