Development and Cooperation


	Contributions from the Column Facts and trends Approval and criticism in parliament committee AIDS: auditors criticise Bush administration WTO disapproves of EU sugar subsidies Demobilisation in Afghanistan a success Additional funds for German civil peace service Kemal Dervis next head of UNDP New World Bank data on governance Monetary fund for Asia under preparation New leaders for WTO and UNCTAD Canada concentrates development aid The failure of Plan Colombia 06/2005		A monetary fund for Asia The idea of creating an Asian monetary fund is taking shape. At the annual conference of the Asian Development Bank in Istanbul in May, the finance ministers of 13 South-East Asian countries decided to expand their bilateral assistance obligations in the event of financial crises. According to the Chiang Mai Initiative, named after the Thai city where it was conceived in 2000, the countries of the region mutually assist one another in times of speculation against their currencies. For this purpose, they established a fund of US$39.5 billion in Chiang Mai. In Istanbul, the finance ministers now agreed to double this amount and to convert their bilateral obligations into a multilateral agreement. In the event of an economic crisis, all thirteen participating countries will now decide on the allocation of funds together, rather than member-countries doing so individually. The Chiang Mai Initiative is also to get its own office. The Initiative was a reaction to the Asian economic crisis of 1997/98 when affected countries were seriously disappointed by the International Monetary Fund’s crisis management. In principle, the conditions the Chiang Mai Initiative attaches to credits are similar to those of the IMF. However, at their Istanbul meeting, the finance ministers also increased the proportion of funds that can be allocated without conditions, from 10 to 20 percent of the Chiang Mai Initiative’s resources. (ell)