Forum established to help RI's WTO team<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A group of government officials, experts, businessmen and non-
\ngovernmental organization (NGO) activists have set up a forum to
\nstudy issues to be discussed at the upcoming World Trade
\nOrganization (WTO) talks.<\/p>\n
The forum will provide inputs for the country's negotiating
\nteam to fight for Indonesian interests in the WTO talks.<\/p>\n
"The establishment of the forum is part of our efforts to
\nstrengthen our position in the WTO meeting," Dian Triansyah
\nDjani, director for multilateral trade and industry at the
\nMinistry of Foreign Affairs told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The idea of establishing the forum came from foreign minister
\nHasan Wirayuda, he said.<\/p>\n
Dian, a member of the forum, said the forum would host
\nperiodic roundtable discussions about WTO issues across the
\ncountry, aimed at boosting people's awareness and understanding
\nof the benefits of market liberalization.<\/p>\n
"We don't want to repeat past mistakes, in which we failed to
\nprovide enough information about the ASEAN Free Trade Area
\n(AFTA), hence many people today are still unaware of the
\nimplementation of AFTA," he said.<\/p>\n
Economists who have agreed to join the club include Hadi
\nSoesastro, Chatib Basri, businessman Anton J. Supit and Bonnie
\nSetiawan of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development
\n(INFID).<\/p>\n
On the government side, Coordinating Minister for the Economy
\nDorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M.
\nSoewandi and Hasan Wirayuda have also agreed to become members,
\nDian said.<\/p>\n
Last year, President Megawati Soekarnoputri formed the
\nnational WTO team, which is chaired by Rini with experts
\nincluding Mary Pangestu, Marzuki Usman, Djisman Simanjuntak and
\nHasan Kartadjoemena.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's negotiating team in WTO is currently chaired
\nBustami Gusmardi.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/forum-established-to-help-ris-wto-team-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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