Alatas warns of possible global financial collapse
Alatas warns of possible global financial collapse
NEW YORK (DPA): Indonesia has warned developed countries that the collapse of financial markets in some Asian countries could spill over to other parts of the world, destroying decades of economic growth.
Foreign Minister Ali Alatas was in New York on Monday to take over the leadership of the United Nations' Group of 77 from Tanzanian Foreign Minister Jakaya M. Kikwere.
The G-77 is a loose body of developing countries within the United Nations, striving to improve their economies and often at odds with the industrialized world.
Alatas used the occasion to warn developed countries that what was happening in Asia could strike them as well.
The rigors of international financial markets, which moved large amounts of currencies in and out of a country, were to blame for the collapse in Asia, he said.
Alatas said the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have acquiesced to Indonesia's demands to regulate the currency market to make it more open and transparent.
He called for wise management of market globalization "with an eye to equitable sharing of responsibilities and benefits".
The Group of 77, which was formed in 1964 with an original 77 countries and has grown now to 132, should fight to keep foreign direct investments alive. He said developing countries could be devastated if financial inflows dry up.
He denounced industrialized countries for their "insidious ways of undermining the comparative advantage of our exports" by introducing issues such as the environment, labor laws and human rights in trade and economic cooperation.
"It is therefore essential that we developing countries become full and equal partners in the common endeavor to nurture a free and just multilateral trading system within the framework of the World Trade Organization," Alatas said.
He repeated a call made by many developing countries that development should not be sacrificed to save the environment.
Indonesia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Makarim Wibisono, assumed the leadership of the G-77 on Jan. 1.