Leading US treasury official Lawrence Summers will hold emergency meetings with the Chief Executive and finance chiefs tonight to identify solutions to the region's turmoil.
Talks are expected to cover stock market plunges throughout Asia, currency crises that have hit countries including Indonesia and Thailand, and international plans to stop the rot.
US President Bill Clinton ordered the tour by the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and yesterday reiterated strong messages to Asian leaders that they must comply with the strict demands set by the International Monetary Fund.
'The IMF reform packages have to be followed, and the rest of us need to be in a position of supporting those trends,' Mr Clinton said.
Financial reforms, such as floating currencies on the markets, are being insisted upon by the US, but Mr Summers will be seeking to co-ordinate help in Hong Kong rather than lay down the law.
Hong Kong government officials played down the meetings, saying they were only 'courtesy calls'.
