'Currency crisis in Asia' moot on July 2

Whether and to what extent monetary integration in various blocs of Asia can lower exchange rate risks to prevent a currency crisis that hit the region ten years ago? Top financial experts and officials from across Asia will gather in Philippines next week to address this question at an international symposium.
Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) is organising the event "Asia is Moving Forward: Ten Years After the Crisis" on July 2, said a statement issued on Monday.
The day marks the tenth anniversary of the beginning of the Asian financial crisis. Thailand floated its currency to stop the outflow of capital on July 2, 1997.
The contagion spread to neighbouring Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and South Korea. A decade after the crisis, Asia has once again emerged as the fastest growing region in the world.
Policymakers in the affected economies turned the crisis into an opportunity to usher in bold reforms and revived the region's economic dynamism. Many had predicted the region would take generations to recover. Some experts and policy makers say Asia is more resilient now than a decade ago but warn "mishaps can still happen".
"Asian policymakers must not allow today's economic stability to generate complacency," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has warned. The US budget deficit and Middle East volatility are the potential crisis triggers in Asia, Lee says.
A single Asian currency or few regional currencies on the pattern of Euro zone is an idea perceivably can lower exchange rate risks for the world fastest growing economies.
There has been a lot of rhetoric on a single currency for Southeast Asian region after the crisis. But nothing comes out of it yet. Experts also believe countries in South Asia including Pakistan and India can benefit from a single currency regime. But they warn big countries like India will sweep these benefits. The experts will discuss how vulnerable Asian economies still are a decade after the crisis.
"Asia has undertaken substantial financial reforms in the past ten years. But we need to remain vigilant against future global shocks. Asian economies need to work together to prevent future crises with a vision of a more integrated and more prosperous region," said Jong-Wha Lee, the head of ADB's office of regional economic integration.