Anticipating free trade

The coming free trade era will provide opportunities but also impose limitations. It will also raise the prospect of uncertainty. For those reasons it is not surprising that all countries are trying to have as strong a say as possible in determining the course of the changes that are to take place.

We may note that during the Uruguay Round meetings, new topics were also raised and old ones revived to ensure that the interests of the countries concerned were protected. As a consequence, the Uruguay Round meetings became protracted.

Indonesia is very much of the opinion that the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting should concentrate on subjects that fall within the bounds of the organization's jurisdiction. Any broadening of the scope of the subjects to be discussed would lead to a repeat of the Uruguay Round experience. The negotiations would become protracted, boring and exhausting.

President Soeharto's reminder during the opening of the 28th ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting in Jakarta last Thursday was intended to prevent the upcoming WTO sessions from becoming as drawn out as those of the Uruguay Round.

The free trade era offers bright prospects for countries that are ready for it. Efforts to turn those prospects into reality can be made either by each country on its own or by influencing the negotiations at the WTO, which has the task of administering and supervising the existing trade agreements and settle trade disputes among its members. We must be prepared.

-- Bisnis Indonesia, Jakarta