Prospects good for Asian economies

By Kathryn Langridge, manager of the Invesco Perpetual Asian Fund Widespread recession and the events of 11 September combined to bring global stock markets down by an average of 17% over 2001. But although Asia had a difficult time during that period, Asian markets ended the year only down 5%, and of the six top-performing countries worldwide last year, four were Asian. A remarkable recovery since the end of the third quarter suggests that prospects for the region, while still uncertain, are more positive than they have been for some time. With 25% of Asian GDP directly related t...