Private sector asked to help draft action plan for APEC<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has urged the private sector to
\nplay a bigger role in formulating Indonesia's individual action
\nplan which will be proposed to APEC leaders in their fourth
\nsummit in November and identify opportunities in other members'
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
"We should do our best in formulating our individual action
\nplan so that it will be applicable," said the foreign ministry's
\nDirector General of Foreign Economic Relations Soemadi D.M.
\nBrotodiningrat yesterday.<\/p>\n
At a gathering organized by the Forum for Inter-Associations
\nof Indonesian Companies, Soemadi noted that intensive
\nconsultations between the government and the private sector,
\nincluding small and medium-scale businesses, is a must to
\ndiscover the strengths and weaknesses of the Indonesian economy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and the other 17 members of the Asia Pacific
\nEconomic Cooperation (APEC) will present their individual action
\nplans during the leaders' meeting in the Philippines.<\/p>\n
APEC, which had a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of
\nUS$13.4 trillion in 1993 or 56 percent of the world's GDP,
\ncomprises of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong,
\nIndonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
\nGuinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand
\nand the United States.<\/p>\n
The individual action plans will be used as bases for the
\nimplementation of APEC's Osaka Action Plan, which was agreed upon
\nby the group's members last November in Osaka, Japan.<\/p>\n
The Osaka Action Plan consists of three main components,
\nnamely the liberalization of trade and investment, facilitation
\nof trade and investment, and technical and economic cooperation.<\/p>\n
The Osaka plan was also a follow-up to the Bogor Declaration
\nrequiring APEC's developed member economies to liberalize trade
\nand investment by 2010 and its developing members by 2020.<\/p>\n
Approach<\/p>\n
According to Soemadi, the liberalization and facilitation of
\ntrade and investment are based on a concerted unilateral
\napproach, which was approved during the Osaka meeting. The
\nunilateral approach will be later combined with APEC's collective
\nactions.<\/p>\n
Under the concerted unilateral approach, members are allowed
\nto formulate their own individual action plan with the
\nstipulation that it complies with nine general principles --
\nincluding flexibility, comparability, nondiscrimination,
\nsimultaneous start, continuous process and different timetables.<\/p>\n
Soemadi noted that in its individual action plan, Indonesia
\nwill propose goods to be subjected to immediate and gradual
\nliberalization.<\/p>\n
"Of course, we will consider in what sectors we're strong and
\nin what sectors we're still weak," he said, adding that "we need
\nthe participation of the private sector, including small
\nbusinesses, to identify our strengths and weaknesses".<\/p>\n
Soemadi said that businesspeople should also monitor the
\nindividual action plans of the other APEC members to find
\npotential business opportunities for Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"There could be opportunities for us to do business in the
\nmarkets of other members," he said. (13)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/private-sector-asked-to-help-draft-action-plan-for-apec-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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