Reform reflects vow of liberalization<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's deregulation package announced in
\nMay reflects its commitment to the liberalization of trade and
\ninvestment in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum,
\na Japanese executive said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
"The move gives a sense that there is a strong drive in the
\ndirection of liberalization," Nobuo Tateisi, vice president of
\nOmron Corporation of Japan, said at a seminar organized jointly
\nby the Business Review Indonesia Forum and the Japan Institute
\nfor Social and Economic Affairs.<\/p>\n
Tateisi is also one of the Japanese representatives in the
\nPacific Business Forum (PBF), which functions as an advisory body
\nto APEC leaders.<\/p>\n
On May 23, immediately prior to the first meeting of the PBF,
\nthe Indonesian government announced a deregulation package that
\nlowered the tariffs on 6,030 items and removed restrictions on
\nthe importation of 81 items.<\/p>\n
"This move was the subject of much discussion at the PBF
\nmeeting, and received strong praise for its impact on the steady
\nimplementation of the terms of the Bogor declaration," Tateisi
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Bogor declaration was the outcome of the second summit of
\nthe APEC leaders who gathered in Bogor, West Java, last November.
\nThe declaration laid down the target dates to liberalize trade
\nand investment in the region by 2020 for the industrialized
\nmember economies and 2010 for the developing members.<\/p>\n
Tateisi also praised Indonesia's move last year to ease
\nforeign investment restrictions, when the ceiling on the amount
\nof foreign investment was removed and the obligation to divest
\nmajority ownership in joint-venture companies was abolished.<\/p>\n
"I very much hope that Indonesia continue with its efforts in
\nthis direction," Tateisi said at his keynote speech.<\/p>\n
Comment<\/p>\n
Commenting on the next APEC summit in Osaka, Japan, Tateisi
\nsaid that the summit would draw up action guidelines to include
\nspecific details of the facilitation measures aimed at creating
\nan environment conducive to promoting liberalization in each
\nfield.<\/p>\n
In advance of next November's APEC summit, Masaya Miyoshi,
\npresident and director general of the Japan Federation of
\nEconomic Organizations (Keidanren), said that the federation had
\nreleased a proposal on what should be done by Japan as the
\nforum's incumbent leader.<\/p>\n
"In light of the extreme diversity among APEC's members,
\nKeidanren believes that the best approach is to encourage each
\nmember to voluntarily draft its own liberalization program,"
\nMiyoshi said.<\/p>\n
He added that Keidanren called on Japan to serve as a model
\nfor liberalization. "Toward the Osaka meeting, Japan should do
\nall it can to expand imports, and this means it should push
\nresolutely forward with deregulation and cut its tariff rates
\nfurther."<\/p>\n
He explained that Keidanren has made a great number of
\nrecommendations on areas where regulations should be relaxed or
\nabolished, and it was asking the Japanese government to take
\naction on them.<\/p>\n
"Another obvious need is for Japan to expand its official
\ndevelopment assistance and in other ways extend greater
\ncooperation with developing countries," Miyoshi said.<\/p>\n
He added that Keidanren also urged APEC to faithfully observe
\nthe rules of the World Trade Organization, which took over from
\nthe General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade on Jan. 1, this year.
\n(rid)<\/p>",
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