World economics, politics taking opposite directions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Economic and political trends are leading
\ntowards contradictory ends, Henry A. Kissinger, a former U.S.
\nsecretary of state, said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the 11th Asian Bankers Association's meeting,
\nKissinger noted that the world economy is widening its focus,
\nwhile politics is becoming more inward looking.<\/p>\n
\"On the one hand, finance and capital are moving on a global
\nbasis. And yet, politics is becoming more nationalistic,\"
\nKissinger said.<\/p>\n
He explained that the expansion of capital brings about a
\nsituation where productive competitiveness has moved from one
\ncountry to other distant countries, based on dynamic economic
\nconsiderations.<\/p>\n
Due to political reasoning, Kissinger said, the expansion of
\ncapital has recently become the concern of industrialized
\ncountries because such expansion has cost them unemployment
\ncrises.<\/p>\n
\"And it seems to me that one of the biggest issues of the next
\ndecades will be the employment issue in industrialized
\ncountries,\" Kissinger said on the second day of the meeting which
\nwas attended by 140 bankers from 14 Asian and seven non-Asian
\ncountries.<\/p>\n
He contended that developed countries are making the
\nprotection of employment for their people a priority as they have
\ncome to realize that it will become an increasingly political
\nissue.<\/p>\n
Kissinger acknowledged that politics has caused protectionism
\nin economic activities. \"It is true that free trade recognizes
\nequality principles, but it doesn't come to everybody being
\nequal. And those who loose employment will try to protect
\nthemselves,\" he said.<\/p>\n
GATT<\/p>\n
Commenting on the possibility of the ratification of the new
\nGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) by the U.S. senate,
\nKissinger said, \"I think the GATT will pass.\" But he predicts
\nthat controversies will remain.<\/p>\n
He noted that while the World Trade Organization has to be
\nimplemented to administer the new GATT early next year, public
\nmovements in developed countries, especially European countries
\nand the United States, tend to be protectionist.<\/p>\n
Such protectionist policies have resulted in the formation of
\ntrade groupings, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement
\n(NAFTA), the European Union (EU) and the ASEAN Free Trade Area
\n(AFTA).<\/p>\n
Speaking at the seminar on the previous day, American
\nAmbassador Robert L. Barry stated that NAFTA is not a trade bloc,
\nbut a complement to the GATT agreement, which recognizes the
\nformation of regional trade groupings as long as they do not
\ncreate new barriers for non-member countries.<\/p>\n
Mari Elka Pangestu of the Center for Strategic and
\nInternational Studies is convinced that AFTA is also not a trade
\nbloc because it concentrates on the acceleration of time
\nframeworks given to all GATT's signatories to adjust their import
\ntariffs and trade regulations in line with GATT principles.<\/p>\n
However, Governor of Bank Indonesia J. Soedradjad Djiwandono
\nargued that all three trade groupings are nothing else than trade
\nblocs because they could cause some disadvantages for non-member
\ncountries although their formation is consistent with the GATT
\nframework.<\/p>\n
Soedradjad exempted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
\n(APEC) forum from trade-bloc categories because it does not treat
\nmember and non-member countries differently.<\/p>\n
Kissinger chorused Soedradjad's notion yesterday, saying that
\nthe formation of the APEC forum \"reflects the modern condition\"
\nof world economics.<\/p>\n
The participation of the United States in this forum,
\nKissinger said, benefits the Asian countries in terms of
\npolitical and economical stability as the relationships between
\nAsian countries and the United States are closer than those among
\nAsian countries themselves.<\/p>\n
\"Asian countries do not look to each other as a community but
\nas competitors or even threats,\" Kissinger said. \"And thus, I
\ndon't think Asian APEC countries want to expel us (the U.S.) from
\nAsia.\"<\/p>\n
Yesterday's meeting saw David K.P. Li, the chief executive of
\nthe Hong Kong-based Bank of East Asia, as the chairman of the
\nAsian Bankers Association to replace outgoing Mochtar Riady of
\nIndonesia's Lippo Group. Arsenio M. Bartolome II of the
\nPhilippine National Bank was elected vice chairman of the
\nassociation. (rid)<\/p>\n
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