APEC's survival shaky<\/p>\n
Tricked out in Indonesian batik camouflage gear, the 18
\nleaders of the Asian-pacific Economic Cooperation group beamed
\nbroadly at the camera, happy, no doubt, that the worst thing to
\nemerge from the summit was having to turn out in public in their
\nhost's choice of attire.<\/p>\n
On the surface, the Jakarta exercise has been successful.
\nAgreement has been reached. Decisions made. But a question
\npersists over this ambitious vision of free trade in Asia, not
\nunlike the one which hangs over the shirts. Will they wear it now
\nthat all the celebrating is over and everybody has gone home?
\nWithout a common denominator to weld the members into a genuine
\ntrade entity, how will this alliance thrive? There is no common
\nthread like culture, or even geographic location, to unite them.
\nAPEC is certainly not doomed to failure but its prospects of
\nsurvival are rather shaky. As a smaller grouping, based on the
\nyen, without fear of dominance by the main Western nations, and
\nwith Japan taking a formative role, it would have a much greater
\nchance of succeeding.<\/p>\n
-- Eastern Express<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/apecs-survival-shaky-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }