Blackstone CEO remains bullish about Asia

Singapore

ASIA remains a "great bet long term'', said Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive of Blackstone, even as slowing growth in China and the expectation of QE (quantitative easing ) tapering have dampened investor interest.

"Asia is caught up by the same general emerging market set of issues. People believe that if interest rates go up, it's less hospitable for Asian economies, and (Asia) is to some degree affected by China's consumption of commodities,'' he said. "It's hard for Asian economies to grow at the same historic rate if China doesn't grow at its historic rate . . . The number of people moving into middle class is also impressive. We're not pessimistic. Three to four years ago, it was an easy yes as some countries are to some degree indexed to China's growth. But overall it's a great bet long term.''