'I will be seeing bland fund managers and so on. I know how to play it. I will be saying bland, simple things because they are bland, simple people. It is like a beauty contest . . . they want to see my legs and body. They are not interested in my brain just yet.' Krung Thai Bank chairman Mechai Viravaidya - aka 'Mr Condom'. 'Right now, the main concern of the markets is that Indonesia gets through the elections safe and sound. People will worry about politics and policies later.' ING Barings' head of research in Jakarta Laksono Widodo. 'Hong Kong investors are not interested in hi-tech. Asian investors seem to be most interested in real estate, things you can touch with your hand. We need to go to European and US investors - they know the sweet taste of a successful high-technology initial public offering.' Cyber City Shenzhen president Frank Chen. 'But I am a little bit concerned that after instances of excessive pessimism, we are now in a phase . . . of a degree of irrational euphoria. So we must be careful in our judgment.' International Monetary Fund managing director Michel Camdessus saying Asian stock markets had run ahead of economic fundamentals. '[US President Bill] Clinton made a serious mistake in not signing the WTO agreement [Premier] Zhu [Rongji] offered him in April. It is vital to get China in to the WTO and get it engaged, more now than before the bombing. China needs outside leverage to control itself.' Chief mainland representative for Chubb Group Ian Lancaster. '[On-line] shopping is not terribly successful in Hong Kong because everything is around the corner.' Andersen Consulting interactive services adviser Andre Hughes. 'We are in the consumer market, not the stock market. According to our history in the US, we do well amid ups and downs.' Li & Fung managing director William Fung Kwok-lun. 'I would like to suggest that we should try to take a broader perspective in our outlook and not make judgments on perceptions. For often there exists a reality gap.' Malaysian Education Minister Najib Razak. 'Some people say there is a 'Net Bubble', but I will not change my bullish stance . . . We are at the start of a revolutionary era. It's time to concentrate on future investments, and we've already seen potential profits in the stock market.' Softbank president Masayoshi Son. 'Maybe they did know, they just didn't choose to hear it.' AXA Rosenberg Group global marketing managing director Marlis Fritz on Asian investors' awareness of risks associated with hedge funds. '[The conspiracy] hit the pocketbook of of virtually every American consumer - anyone who took a vitamin, drank a glass of milk or had a bowl of cereal.' US Justice Department antitrust division chief Joel Klein on European pharmaceutical giants Roche and BASF's price-fixing scandal.
