Senior officials from a number of Asian regional organisations have said a comprehensive strategy of co-operation could help to control the regional impact of the current global financial crisis.

After two days of meetings in the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, to discuss such an initiative, some proposals have been put forward, but progress looks likely to be slow.

Strengthen the region

The Secretary General of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean), Rodolfo Severino, said that the best way to compete in a global market is to strengthen the region first.

In a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day meeting in Kathmandu, the executive heads of Asian regional organisations reiterated their commitment to regional co-operation and economic integration.

Representatives at the meeting (from Asean, the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc), the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), and sub-regional organisations from the Pacific region) agreed that regional cooperation would promote sustained development and economic stability.

But they said that at present, co-operation among organisations in the region is minimal, and they called for measures to increase co-operation in trade and investment.

Saarc's Secretary General, Naeem Hassan, said that South Asia can learn from the experiences of Asean to avoid the worst effects of the financial crisis, by developing a system of sharing information between the two organisations.

Protection from crisis

Asean nations have been among the worst affected by the recent crisis. But Saarc members' less open economies have offered them some protection from its knock-on effects.

Saarc countries once looked to Asean for the key to achieving record levels of growth.