APB-Net to convene in Osaka tomorrow

JAKARTA (JP): The Asia Pacific Business Network (APB-Net) will open a two-day meeting in Osaka, Japan, tomorrow to finalize its policy views prior to the Osaka meeting of the Leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in November.

Thirteen Japanese business associations including the Keidanren, the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Japan Foreign Trade Council are hosting the APB-Net meeting.

"The views will build on the outcomes of the APEC Opportunity Forum and Ministers meeting hosted in Adelaide, Australia, last month," the APB-Net Coordinator for Indonesia, Husein Aminuddin, said in a statement yesterday.

The Osaka APEC Leaders meeting is approaching and the latest reports indicate that there are still significant differences between major economies on key issues relating to trade liberalization.

Aminuddin said the breakdown of discussions among officials in recent weeks concerns the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

He added that the business consensus evident in Adelaide may be fractured by the spillover from the government negotiations.

APB-Net consists of chambers of commerce and industry from APEC member economies. It is facilitating business activities among members and was conceived during the Second APEC SOM in Bali in May, 1994, and was formally launched as a new organization at the first APB-Net meeting in Jakarta on Aug. 23- 25 last year.

APEC groups Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Mexico, United States, Japan, Canada and Chile.

To coincide with the meeting of APEC ministers for small and medium-scale enterprises in Adelaide, Australia, last Sept. 12- 15, APB-Net hosted a business forum to realize the vision of promoting business networking and providing an effective voice for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the APEC process.

It was intended that the views of SMEs could be directly stated to ministers who would be able to make a report to the leaders meeting in Osaka.

Over 800 business people, mainly from SMEs, took part in the Adelaide meeting, in addition to more than 200 government officials and ministers.

In hosting the event, APB-Net drew on more than 50 leading business associations from around the region.

Aminuddin, who is also Kadin's vice president for trade and international relations, said that the outcome of the Adelaide meeting included recommendations on how APEC can better facilitate trade development by SMEs through liberalization and deregulation. It also suggested improved networking, which is critical to the survival and growth of smaller enterprises.(kod)