Visit By Minister for Trade & Industry Mr Lim Hng Kiang to ASEAN Finance Ministers Investor Seminar and IMF World Bank Meetings in the US

Singapore, 24 September 2004...Minister for Trade & Industry Lim Hng Kiang will visit the United States from 27 September 2004 to 4 October 2004.

2  Minister Lim will attend the ASEAN Finance Ministers Investor Seminar in New York on 29 September 2004, where he will deliver the opening address and participate in panel discussions.

3  The seminar has its genesis at the ASEAN Finance Ministers' Meeting held in Singapore in April 2004.  The meeting was chaired by Minister Lim in his capacity as Singapore's Second Minister for Finance.  At the meeting, the ASEAN Finance Ministers noted strong growth prospects for the region's economies and wide changing reforms that have transformed the region to provide an attractive value proposition for international portfolio investment. To update international investors on ASEAN's transformation, they agreed to organise a joint road-show to the United States.

4  From New York, Minister Lim will travel to Washington D.C to attend the 2004 International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WB) Annual Meetings. As Chairman of the IMF and WB Boards of Governors, Minister Lim will preside over the plenary sessions of the 2004 Annual Meetings. He will also chair the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency Procedures Committee Meeting and the Joint Procedures Committee Meeting. 

5  The Boards are the highest decision-making bodies in their respective institutions. The Boards' mandates include preserving stability in the international monetary and financial system, and reducing poverty worldwide. The Chairmanship is rotated among major geographical regions.   Minister Lim's term commenced immediately after the 2003 Annual Meetings and will conclude after the 2004 Annual Meetings.

6  Whilst in Washington D.C., Minister Lim will meet members of the US Congress and key officials of the Bush Administration, including US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Theodore Kassinger.

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Notes to Editor

1.  ASEAN was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok by the five original Member Countries, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.  Brunei Darussalam joined on 8 January 1984, Vietnam on 28 July 1995, Laos and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999.

2.  The Boards of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank normally meet once a year to discuss the work of their respective institutions.

3.  The Annual Meetings, which generally take place in September-October, have customarily been held in Washington for two consecutive years and in another member country in the third year.  The 2006 Annual Meetings will be held in Singapore.

4.  The IMF is an international organization of 184 member countries. It was established to promote international monetary cooperation, exchange stability, and orderly exchange arrangements; to foster economic growth and high levels of employment; and to provide temporary financial assistance to countries to help ease balance of payments adjustment.

5.  The World Bank is one of the world's largest sources of development assistance.  It is one of the United Nations' specialized agencies, and is made up of 184 member countries. Its primary focus is to help the poorest people and the poorest countries.