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IMF opens H.K. office to better monitor Asian developments

Asian Economic News, Jan 15, 2001

HONG KONG, Jan. 11 Kyodo

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) opened a sub-office in Hong Kong on Thursday to enable better monitoring of financial and economic developments in Asia.

''I expect that our new office -- located in this important focal point of financial market activity for the region -- will broaden our capabilities for understanding financial and economic risks and vulnerabilities,'' IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said.

The Hong Kong office will also play an important role in promoting and maintaining a dialogue among the IMF, financial market participants and government officials, which in turn can help contribute to the stability of the international financial system, Koehler said in a statement.

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Koehler was in Hong Kong on Thursday to officiate at the office opening, after the IMF's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, last September.

The formal name of the office is the ''Hong Kong SAR Sub-Office of the IMF's Resident Representative Office in the People's Republic of China.''

Koehler explained that Hong Kong is a logical choice for the sub-office because the territory's markets play ''a key role in intermediating the flow of capital in the region.''

''The lessons from the Asian crisis, and subsequent financial market turbulence, point to the importance of economic and financial market surveillance for crisis prevention, and developing policies to promote economic growth,'' the IMF official said, according to the text of his speech prepared for the office opening.

''But globalization and rapid changes in financial markets and financial practices significantly challenged our ability to effectively monitor and diagnose problems at an early stage,'' he said.

IMF is striving to adapt to those changes and has taken many initiatives to enhance its financial market surveillance capabilities, Koehler added.

The international body was criticized by some for offering poor prescriptions to certain countries hit by the 1997 Asian financial crisis due to inadequate understanding of the region.

Liu Tinghuan, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China leading a delegation from Beijing, attended the opening, the IMF said.

During his visit to Hong Kong, Koehler also met with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and other senior government officials including Financial Secretary Donald Tsang, Monetary Authority Chief Executive Joseph Yam and Secretary for Financial Services Stephen Ip.

IMF opens H.K. office to better monitor Asian developments

Asian Economic News, Jan 15, 2001

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