South Korea is going to host the Group of Twenty (G20) Summit this Nov. 11-12 in Seoul. After the conclusion of the Summit in Toronto, Canada, last June, it is now South Korea’s turn to chair the organization until the November Summit meeting. South Korea is the third Asian country to chair G20 after India in 2002 and China in 2005.

The Seoul Summit is particularly important because it is held following the fiscal crisis in Greece last March that has been spreading to other members of the eurozone as well. South Korea is an excellent showcase of a successful Asian model of export-led development strategy not only by adopting an mercantilist undervalued exchange rate but also by raising labor productivity and reducing transaction costs in her economy.

The Summit delegations can witness the rapid transitions of the Asian economies from state control to market-based system and the movement of their exchange rate system from fixed exchange rate to a more flexible one. Asia is also nurturing both domestic and regional demand in ASEAN+3 to compensate for the falling exports in its traditional markets in the US and Europe. Crisis-hit countries in Southern and Eastern Europe can learn from Asian experiences in 1997 on how to pull the economy from crisis.