Terrorism a major concern in region – survey

Fueled mainly by the deadly Oct. 12 car bomb attack in Bali, Indonesia, terrorism has become a major concern across Southeast Asia, a recent survey conducted by an international research group showed.

Most of the 9,800 respondents polled by information provider AC Nielsen listed terrorism as their single greatest concern for the next six months, which prompted them to defer planned investments or purchases.

The survey was conducted via Internet from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5 in 13 countries — Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand and the Philippines.

The respondents came from the A, B and C classes.

"Because of what happened in Bali, a lot of Southeast Asian nations were concerned over security. Fear of terrorism and concern about armed conflicts rose dramatically in the second half of 2002," Bienvenido Niles Jr., AC Nielsen Southeast Asia region managing director, said.

On the night of Oct. 12, a car bomb went off in a tourist nightspot in Bali, killing about 190 people, most of them Australians. An Indonesia-based militant group, Jemaah Islamiyah — a regional terrorist network allegedly allied to al-Qaeda — was blamed for the attack.

As expected, respondents in Australia and neighboring New Zealand felt the most threatened, with 32 percent of Australians and 23 percent of New Zealanders listing terrorism as their foremost worry, Niles said.

Sixteen percent of Philippine respondents said possible terrorist attacks were their greatest concern, partly caused by the seeming inability of the military to wipe out the elusive Abu Sayyaf Islamist group in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, a survey of multinational corporations by the Economist Intelligence Unit earlier this year showed that the Philippines was considered one of the worst places in Southeast Asia to do business in because of corruption and crime, mainly the rash of kidnappings-for-ransom.

South Korea seemed the least bit worried over terrorism with only three percent of respondents there listing security as a major concern.

Following the Bali bombing, Australian Prime Minister John Howard declared weeks ago he would order preemptive strikes overseas if there was no alternative means of saving Australia from terrorist attack, provoking regional outrage.

Although he did not name any countries, the strongest criticism came from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and, to a lesser extent, Thailand.

The United States backed Howard, saying Southeast Asian nations should "better police themselves" to make preemptive strikes against terrorism unnecessary.

In October, the United States provoked protests from Southeast Asian countries because its travel advisories on the region hurt their respective tourism industries.