Asian nations like China, Singapore, and South Korea should be given a bigger right of speech and participation in the upcoming International Monetary Fund or IMF conference. Goh Chok Tong, Singapore Senior Minister said that his country as well as other nations in Asia must have a larger participation in the decisions of IMF since the Asian region is earning worth as far as the global trade and international economy are concerned. In an interview last August 31st, Goh said that Asia is a fast-growing region and is becoming very essential in providing contributions to the development of the global trade as surely as to the international economy.



The IMF is an international organization, which is composed of 184 members including the United States, was established in 1946 right after the windup of the Second World War. It was created due to the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference. The basic tasks of the fund are to lend member countries with funds and to provide financing solutions to momentary balance of payment problems. The organization is also responsible in assisting the expansion and balanced growth of global trade and the international economy, and in ensuring international monetary cooperation among member nations. The said organization played an active role in the economic and financial rules and policies of some highly obligated member countries and in the maintenance of the global monetary stability.

Rodrigo De Rato, the IMF Managing Director, confirmed last Sept 1st that the said Asian nations and other countries including Turkey and Mexico will surely be given more voting prowess and larger part in the coming IMF yearly conference, which will be held in two weeks time. De Rato said that the Asian nations are continually growing in terms of economy and global trade, and they need to be given greater suffrage in the organization to equal their size.

As of current records, the United States holds the biggest fraction of votes in the said organization having over 17 percentage share. Meanwhile, Japan ranks next to US having 6.13 % share. Furthermore, the countries that belong in the Sahara and African region possess an overall share of the votes that is 4.6 percent. In the meantime, Singapore only holds .4 percentage in the votes. Increases and adjustments in the sharing of votes for fast-developing nations will possibly be the main agenda in the forthcoming IMF conference that will be held in Singapore. The right to vote or suffrage in IMF is considered a heritage of the worldwide organization in its establishment last 1945. Based on the worldwide organization's website, the privilege of member nations to vote at IMF were increased to become a faithful representation of the nations' hierarchy in the global trade and the international economy.

Some global trade analysts and economists say that the capability of nations in Asia to have a larger part in the upcoming IMF conference may not exactly be as essential as it was before wherein the prime flow of capitals come from private bodies and not from multilateral and open market institutions like the IMF. Moreover, contrary to the announcement of De Rato, there are still countries who are against the modifying of the suffrage at the forthcoming meeting. Axel Weber, President of Bundesbank, said that members of the European Union must not succumb their rights to vote to underprivileged countries. As the leader of Germany's Central Bank, Weber said that IMF must create a voting system that is clear and fair to all its members. On the other hand, Goh said that Singapore and neighboring countries in Asia may be deemed as weak countries, but they are continually developing. He added that the voting privileges will give growing Asian nations a bigger worth in the global trade and economy.