AUCKLAND: President Bill Clinton said a new international financial
                  architecture has to be developed to prevent future financial crises, although the
                  crisis-stricken Asian countries were already coming out of recession.

                  "I think there's a real danger that I sense growing of people to say, 'Well, things
                  are fine now; we don't need to continue to do anything about the economics of
                  the financial architecture.' I think that's a mistake" he told Apec businessmen at
                  a breakfast session here yesterday.

                  He said the Asian financial crisis had underscored the tremendous stake the
                  United States had in the stability and success of Asia.

                  "It demonstrated how closely tied our economies had become. And as our
                  Asian markets dried up, our companies, our banks, our workers, our farmers
                  clearly felt the effects."

                  He said the United States had been seeking new ways to help the international
                  system moderate the cycle of boom and bust in much the way that individual
                  economies had learned to do since the Great Depression of 1932/33.

                  Clinton made no mention of currency speculators, but said the United States
                  was working hard to ensure that all, including the developing economies, had a
                  seat at the table, through new mechanisms like the financial stability forum.

                  He said the International Monetary Fund now had special financing available to
                  help a country head off a financial contagion, provided the country had
                  maintained responsible economic policies.

                  "Emerging economies have work to do--they still have to continue to restructure
                  their banking systems, make their corporations more accountable, reduce
                  reliance on short-term loans, and encourage greater direct investment.

                  "Creditor nations must improve their own financial supervision and regulation so
                  investors will assess risks more carefully and banks will lend more wisely" he
                  said.

                  Clinton also signalled improved Sino-American relations following a meeting
                  with Chinese Jiang Zemin here.

                  "I had a very good meeting with President Jiang. China and the United States
                  reaffirmed our commitment to China's entry into the WTO (World Trade
                  Organisation) on commercially viable terms. I hope we can make it happen
                  soon," he said.

                  Sino-American talks on China joining WTO were suspended following the Nato
                  bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade last May.

                  Later, during a meeting with Apec leaders, business representatives called on
                  all Apec economies to take concrete steps to achieve the Bogor Declaration for
                  free and open trade and investment to be achieved by 2010 for developed
                  economies and 2020 for developing economies.

                  "Renewed commitment by Apec leaders to speeding up trade and investment
                  liberalisation is necessary," said Philip Burdon, chairman of the Apec Business
                  Advisory Council (Abac).

                  He said Abac had submitted a list of recommendations for trade and investment
                  liberalisation to the Apec leaders for consideration.