Mr. Speaker, thanks to the People's Summit the issue of human rights and labour standards has not been able to be swept under the red carpet at APEC.
Thanks to the currency crisis in Asia, instead of being able to uncritically celebrate the ecstasies of the market, many at APEC lament the agonies of a global economy in which entire regions and national economies can be ruined by money speculators. Instead of down playing these concerns, the Prime Minister should join the call for a global regime to regulate and tax currency speculations. How many more bail outs will there have to be before we go after the major cause of why these various economies sink in the first place?
The fact is that the Asian miracle was largely built on exploitation of cheap labour. As workers in these countries demand a fair share, international investors and multinational corporations lose their fascination and look elsewhere for people to exploit. Such is the nature of unregulated global capitalism.