Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Virtual 24th ASEAN Finance Ministers` Meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam
(WorldNews Indonesia)

COVID-19 Pandemic, the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, and WBG Response Thank you, Chair. Ministers, Colleagues. It is good to speak with you at this 24th meeting of the ASEAN Finance Ministers. Thank you to the Vietnamese Government for hosting. I am pleased to share the `virtual` stage with the ASEAN Secretary General and my friend and colleague, ADB President Masa Asakawa. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic shutdown of the advanced economies, will result in the first major recession in ASEAN countries since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. The World Bank`s East Asia Economic Update, which was launched on September 30, projects that real GDP in the East Asia and Pacific region, excluding...