By Mitch Moxley and Su Qiang (Shanghai Start)
Updated: 2007-09-07 06:23

Despite recent economic turmoil in the United States, the global economic outlook remains healthy thanks to booming Asian markets, a panel of experts said on the opening day of the World Economic Forum's "Summer Davos" in Dalian yesterday.

The panel, consisting of five economic experts and business leaders from the US, China, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, was "cautiously optimistic" about the world's economy in the year ahead, despite the US sub-prime mortgage crisis that has wreaked havoc on global financial markets.

Soaring markets in China, India and the Middle East remain a source of optimism, panel members said.

"We're going through a global boom. In our business, we believe in looking east, and when I talk about east I talk about the Middle East and Asia," panelist Mohamed Alabbar, chairman of United Arab Emirates-based Emaar Properties, said.

"We are all affected by (the US economy), but we have all been living in such an incredibly good story and it's good to put the brakes on and think about it."

Experts praised China's economic success and noted that in coming years companies from Asia's emerging markets will play a leading role in the global economy.

Panelist Wei Jiafu, president and CEO of China Ocean Shipping Group Co, argued that more attention should be paid to China's economic growth, particularly in the face of US financial turmoil. "In the coming 20 years, on the one side China's economy will continue to grow fast, with booming investment, domestic consumption and merchandise exports. On the other side I believe economic restructuring, energy savings strategy and environmental protection measures will help China's economy to grow not only faster, but healthier," Wei said.

Panelists were divided on the spillover effects of an economic slowdown in the US.

"The recent turmoil will certainly be a dent to the US (economy), but it shouldn't be a significant dent," Kristin Forbes, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management, said.

Other delegates shared the panel's positive, but cautious, outlook on the global economy.

"The panel's view was cautiously optimistic, and I would definitely share that view," Pekka Lundmark, president and CEO of Finland-based Konecranes said.

Yang Zhizhong, Lehman Brothers managing director and head of China Investment Banking of Lehman Brothers, called the global economy "very strong" and said China and India will play a leading role in its development.

"As the developed world slows down, developing countries such as China and India will pick up speed. China is now transforming its economic growth model from export-oriented to consumer-oriented. It's a challenge and an opportunity," Yang said.

(Shanghai Start 09/07/2007 page1)