May 2, 2003	Friday	Safar 29, 1424

NEW DELHI, May 1: World Bank managing director Peter Woicke said on Thursday he was confident that Asian economies would come out of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) crisis and remain attractive investment destinations.

“Hopefully, this is a short-term issue. I think the perception that Asia and India are attractive markets to invest in the long-term will not be changed by SARS,” he told reporters in New Delhi at a meeting of the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation.

However, Mr Woicke said the World Bank had already forecast that economic growth in China was likely to come down by 0.5 per cent this year and added that the drop could even be 1 per cent if SARS continued to spread.

Economic growth in the Asian region as a whole could depend on how quickly the disease was checked, he said.

“It is a question of whether it will be contained or it will continue to spread. If it spreads, then it (growth) will be affected,” Mr Woicke added.

He said he was hopeful the disease would soon be eradicated as the medical world was expected to soon find a cure.

China’s economy grew by 9.9 per cent in the first quarter of the year, the fastest in the world, but the SARS outbreak has stalled the tourist industry and hit business travel.—AFP