Agenda set for APEC ministers' talks

Agenda set for APEC ministers' talks

JAKARTA (JP): The sixth ministerial meeting of the Asia
Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which will be held
here on Nov. 11 and Nov. 12, will discuss regular as well as new
agenda items, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said
yesterday.

In a joint press conference with Coordinating Minister for
Trade and Industry Hartarto, Alatas explained yesterday that the
regular agenda will include economic trends and issues, progress
reports from working groups, issues in trade and investment, as
well as organizational matters.

Alatas said materials for the discussion of economic trends
and issues will be provided by an ad hoc committee, which will
convene here on Nov. 5. The materials on the issues of trade and
investment will be provided by a committee which will convene
here on Nov. 6 and 7.

"If a consensus can be reached, we will also discuss non-
binding investment principles," Alatas told the press conference,
held after the limited cabinet session on economic affairs.

In addition to the regular agenda, the six ministerial
meetings will also discuss reports from the APEC's Eminent
Persons Group and the Pacific Business Forum, which have been
distributed to the leaders of the APEC economies by President
Soeharto.

Last August, the Eminent Persons Group urged APEC members to
liberalize trade and investment in the region by 2020, while last
month the Pacific Business Forum recommended free trade in the
region 10 years earlier, or by 2010.

Other new topics to be discussed in the meeting are those
related to the problems faced by developing countries, which will
be set forth by the Indonesian government as the host.

The topics are human resources development, basic
infrastructure, the promotion of small-scale and medium-sized
businesses, as well as the private sector.

Alatas said the meeting might also discuss the possibility of
other economies outside of APEC taking part in the APEC meetings
either as observers or guests.

APEC groups Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Hong Kong,
Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New
Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand
and the United States. Chile will be admitted officially as the
18th member in the second APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in Bogor,
West Java, on Nov. 15.

President Soeharto is scheduled to host a working dinner on
Nov. 14 for all APEC leaders.

When asked about the format of the Bogor meeting, Alatas
reiterated that the format will remain the same as that during
the first summit on Blake Island, the U.S., last November, in
which Hong Kong and Taiwan were represented by their economic
ministers.

"We get a strong indication that Taiwan will send its economic
minister," Alatas said, reiterating Indonesia's one-China policy.
"The U.S. and also the rest of the world adopt a one-China
policy, Why shouldn't we?" (rid)