KUALA LUMPUR -- Senior Asian government and business leaders will gather here Thursday for a two-day conference seeking to rebuild confidence in the region following the September 11 terror attacks in the United States, organizers said Monday. Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will deliver a keynote address Thursday on the "future of Asia in the 21st century: redefining an East Asia economic grouping" at the Asia Economic Summit, AFP reported. "Asia is at a critical crossroad. The global economic slowdown so soon after the 1997 financial crisis poses new uncertainties and challenges," the organizer, the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI), said in a statement. "The summit is apt and timely to rebuild confidence in Asia and to regenerate investments into the region." The summit will allow leaders to take stock of challenges facing Asia after September 11 and the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial conference in Qatar, the statement said. It will discuss Asia's economic and investment outlook, seek ways to woo foreign investment to the region and see how Asian companies can position themselves for a recovery from the downturn. It will also evaluate Asia's competitiveness in the 21st century, review threats to Asia's stability and prosperity and discuss a proposed East Asia free trade zone. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at a summit in November endorsed a free trade area with China and set up an experts' group to look at enlarging it to include South Korea and Japan. The so-called East Asia economic grouping was the realization of a plan raised by Mahathir but shot down by the United States nearly 10 years ago. WTO director-general designate Supachai Panichpakdi will deliver a special address on the WTO after Doha. Other speakers are Singapore's Trade and Industry Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz, former Philippine president Fidel Ramos and former U.S. undersecretary of treasury for international affairs Jeffry Shafer. Some 300 participants from Malaysia, China, Australia, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, South Korea and the United States will attend the March 7-8 conference, the statement said. Asli is a private think-tank headed by Mahathir's eldest son, Mirzan. The conference is organized with the support of the Malaysian government.