The APEC summit<\/p>\n
Jakarta's main roads are much cleaner these days. Perhaps for
\nthe first time in history flowers are arranged at many strategic
\npoints, particularly along the city's major thoroughfares.
\nBeggars and street vendors have vanished overnight from
\ncrossroads.<\/p>\n
It is not often that one see such a thorough facelift in this
\ncapital city.<\/p>\n
All those cleaning-up measures are, of course, in preparation
\nfor the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings which
\nare scheduled to start rolling this week. As the organizer, the
\nIndonesian government is apparently determined to do its best to
\nbe a good host.<\/p>\n
It seems that nothing is being left to chance. Thousands of
\ntroops are to be deployed to ensure that the conferences and
\nmeetings will proceed in complete safety. Hundreds of pricey
\nbrand new gleaming cars have been imported to transport the
\nvisiting heads of government and their entourages during their
\nstay here. New telecommunications lines and facilities have been
\ninstalled to assist the thousands of journalists who are expected
\nto converge here to cover the meetings.<\/p>\n
One top official has even gone as far as to propose that the
\npeople of Jakarta and Bogor simply take a holiday on Nov. 14 and
\n15, when the APEC summit will be held. This, supposedly, is to
\nensure that no traffic jams will occur during the conferences.<\/p>\n
It is very apparent that the government is ready to go all out
\nto ensure that the APEC summit will be a success.<\/p>\n
Of course one may wonder why it takes an international event
\nsuch as the APEC summit for the capital city to be cleaned up.<\/p>\n
Why it is that it always requires some major excitement like
\nthis, or the Non-Aligned Movement Summit in 1992, to move the
\nauthorities into action to put things in order? One might be led
\nto believe that all this is a reflection of the lack of a real
\nwill on the part of the powers that be to make things more
\nlivable in the capital.<\/p>\n
Of course, the residents of the capital themselves should be
\nexpected to make efforts to ensure that Jakarta will be a good
\nhost and that the summit will proceed in a most satisfactory
\nmanner. But it seems sad that the authorities may well have to
\nissue a reminder to the public to behave properly during the
\nsummit.<\/p>\n
For example, we have heard too many stories of taxi drivers
\ncheating their unsuspecting foreign passengers. Or there are
\ntraders who double or triple their prices when dealing with
\nforeign customers.<\/p>\n
Strict measures against perpetrators of such practices should
\nbe taken on a routine basis, and not only during, or before, a
\nbig international event.<\/p>\n
As for the little contributions many of us may already have
\nmade to the preparations for the summit, as good hosts we all
\nsurely feel no regrets at doing our part to see that all goes as
\nsmoothly.<\/p>\n
Clean streets, discipline and business integrity aside, the
\nnext logical questions would be: Are all those undertakings
\nworthwhile? Are there any accepted criteria by which we will be
\nable to determine if the upcoming APEC meeting is really a
\nsuccess?<\/p>\n
Anyone with a sensible mind would surely agree that to be a
\ngood host and to ensure that the conference goes as smoothly as
\npossible are things that we are capable of doing. But what about
\nthe true substance of the event itself? For instance, would we be
\nable to call the APEC summit successful if the final declaration
\ndoes not set a timetable for a free-trade program?<\/p>\n
One could easily conclude that it is beyond our power to make
\nsure that the coming APEC summit produces a satisfactory
\ndecision, since all decisions must be reached by consensus.<\/p>\n
Still, whatever decisions the summit might produce, the fact
\nthat a meeting of 18 heads of government -- or their delegates --
\nrepresenting a combined population of 2.2 billion and accounting
\nfor 41 percent of world's trade, is a spectacular event in
\nitself. Surely there will be a lot of positive results from such
\na conference and the bilateral meetings between the summit.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/the-apec-summit-1447899208",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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