KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Asia is advised to promote intra-Asia trade and investment to build the strength that enables the region to weather crisis threatening its economic stability.

    Jong-Wha Lee, chief economist, concurrently Head, Office of Regional Economic Integration, Asian Development Bank made this remark here on Tuesday.

    When speaking at the Asia-Europe Meeting held here, Lee said Asia, an export-oriented region, might need a new economy model that focused on regional partnership.

    Lee also said governments of Asian countries should strengthen intra-Asian financial cooperation, adding that regional partnership was crucial in capacity building.

    He advised Asian countries to reduce the pursuit of the export-oriented economy model as dealing with technically and environmentally sustainable economic growth was equally important.

    He also said that countries with abundant surpluses should be pooled together so that other less rich countries could benefit from them while receiving other global assistance.

    While Asia was deemed to have high savings rate, Lee said it was wise to find ways to utilize the funds effectively, with increasing intra-regional investment a good option.

    Lee also said that regional initiatives was an important issue requiring attention from all stakeholders as the integrated strength at the regional level could support global initiatives.

    It was vital for Asia to contribute to globalization by building a new global framework so that Asia's concerns could be raised in the global arena, added Lee.

    However, he reminded that any regional framework must be aligned with those of international standards.

    ASEM has been an inter-governmental platform of dialogue and cooperation between Asia and Europe since 1996. It currently has 45 members, which together represent half of the world's gross domestic product.

    The two-day seminar beginning on Monday is co-organized by the Asian Development Bank, the Central Bank of Malaysia and the European Commission, with participation of more than 100 officials and economists from both Asia and Europe.