"Despite the difficulties facing the region at the moment, many of the economic fundamentals that propelled Asia's remarkable achievements in the past three decades remain intact," Sato told member delegations at the ADB annual meeting.

One after another, a string of Asian finance ministers meeting in Geneva have expressed confidence in their recovery prospects despite stern warnings from economists and Western financiers that the worst may not be over.

Sato said Asia had confidence in its economic fundamentals despite the crisis, but: "This is no time for complacency and continued close monitoring of the situation is essential."

Some of the crisis-hit countries have made significant progress in recovering confidence, but the financial chiefs of these governments are aware that they could not be complacent and that they mustcontinue to monitor the situation, he said.

Part of the debate in Geneva has centred on whether the 57-member ADB should go beyond its traditional role as a development bank and be more involved in providing emergency financing to the region's countries in need of funds.

ADB vice president Bong-Suh Lee said the bank, which has a top-notch AAA credit rating, would try to raise $9.5 billion from world capital markets this year.

While the focus last year was on short-term bridging financing, this year the bank would seek to raise loans through bond borrowing, he added.

This year, Indonesia, one country to top the bankers' worry list, and China were likely to be major borrowers, he added.

Bankers say the biggest stumbling block to economic recovery in Asia is the perilous health of the region's banking systems, which are now in desperate need of fresh capital.

Analysts say the size of the problem, the slow pace of economic and financial sector reform and a lingering resentment by some Asian countriestoward foreign investment in their banks could delay much needed capital inflows.

Lee estimated the region's banks needed at least $50 billionin total to recapitalise. On Friday, Indonesia's finance minister Fuad Bawazier put the financing needs of the banking sector in his country at some 280 billion rupiah ($35.4 million) for each of the 212 banks. That works out at $7.4 billion.

Independent researchers have estimated Korea's needs to revamp its financial sector at $50 billion, Thailand's at up to $22 billion, Malaysia at up to $10 billion and Indonesia at between $5 and $7.7 billion.

One key agreement that has come out of the Geneva gathering is a decision to set up a regional surveillance system -- christened Asean Plus -- to give an early warning of future crises. Thai finance minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda said the new mechanism, designed to boost transparency in Asia by collecting micro- and macro-economic data to avoid the recurrence of crises similar to the one last year, would start withThailand, Malaysia.

"We strongly endorsed the move forward to begin the monitoring system," he said after a meeting of finance ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan's vice finance minister Eisuke Sakakibara on Thursday. The new body -- described by one delegate as a "sort of Asian version of the International Monetary Fund" -- would be set up by Asean and joined by Japan, Nimmanahaeminda said.

Bankers say fuller disclosure last year might have reduced the severity of the region's financial crisis, and that lack of transparency had disguised the extent of imprudent lending.