APEC and NAM: The two commitments that bind

In the span of two years Indonesia has hosted two important international meetings, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Political scientist Juwono Sudarsono puts the two events in global perspective and argues that the nation's real challenge is its exposure to international competition.

JAKARTA (JP): The link between Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is more profound than is generally acknowledged. For Indonesia, APEC and NAM are two facets of the same commitment: the strive towards establishing an equitable world order based on tenacity and sustainable hard work.

The 10th Non-Aligned Summit of September 1992 mandates in the Jakarta Message that the Movement's priority should be that of building partnership and cooperation with economically developed nations. It also implicitly states that revival of North-South dialog be based more on increased obligations of the South to overcome their own inefficiencies rather than depending on periodic assistance from the rich North. The message was terse and clear: no more fault-finding, get real and get to work.

As chair of NAM for the 1992-95 period, President Soeharto's clear determination to convince NAM member-states that hard work, patience and tenacity in bringing about internal economic development are the avenues to break out of the vicious circle of underdevelopment, has been underscored by his focusing on four fundamental development issues: food security, population control, debt management and sustainable development. No developing nation worth its name can legitimately claim to demand international equity if its leaders cannot provide the basics at home. That is why as chair of NAM President Soeharto has appointed a special executive assistant, seven senior economists and four roving ambassadors to bring home the point about the importance of domestic economic performance.

The link with APEC is in the urgency for a revived North-South dialog, which has been on numerous international agendas since the United Nations Special Session on the New International Economic Order twenty years ago. Indonesia is well aware that in the iron law of international economics, the rich industrialized countries want to maintain their comparative advantages in trade, investments, finance and services -- major issues at APEC meetings since November 1989. After all, in international competition, the name of the game is holding on to what you have, increasing your earnings and preventing emerging competitors.

Whether it is GATT/WTO rules, international public and private law, accords on production norms, intellectual property, services, market access, customs procedures -- at all levels, every country and every multinational cheats to the extent that it strives to bend the interpretations of numerous legal codes to its advantage. The more powerful they are economically, the more stakes they have in defending norms and rules of procedure which invariably are depicted as "international standards", but which in effect protect powerful domestic constituents.

In Indonesia's eyes, APEC is an opportunity for a limited North-South partnership and cooperation which is manageable and more importantly, which serves as a model for the much vaunted partnership and cooperation. The most emphatic symbol of this commitment is in the appointments of Industry and Trade Coordinating Minister Hartarto as chair and Foreign Minister Ali Alatas as vice chair of the Indonesian delegation, whose combined experiences in economic policy making and diplomacy during the post Cold War years provide them with the savvy to gauge the pulse of international economic and political issues relative to Indonesia's interest.

Despite the innumerable difficulties facing powerful economies such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia relishes the challenge of APEC. That is why Indonesia has surprised other APEC participants and outside observers by its very willingness to press ahead with a continued APEC process without the hesitation or caution shown by several other participants. The surprise has been even more apparent within Indonesia itself, where bureaucrats, entrenched businessmen with special privileges and assorted rent-seekers in the trade, investment and marketing sectors have come to realize that as the APEC process moves forward, a more competitive and professional environment will have to be faced by all in the future.

The APEC-NAM linkage is not a spurious attempt at foreign policy dramatics. It is inextricably linked to Indonesia's attempt to hammer home at various regional and international gatherings since the NAM summit in Jakarta two years ago: the South cannot forever find external alibis for its own shortcomings and demand interminable concessions from the North. More than 90 percent of a country's development task is its own responsibility, even if geo-political location, abundant natural resources and market potential make it attractive for foreign economic interaction.

Ultimately, the APEC-NAM linkage goes to the heart of the matter: within Indonesia itself. The whole endeavor is expected to spur cultural breakthroughs blending both economic vigor and political commitment across Indonesian society and culture. It will transform difficulties into challenges, which in turn must be translated into opportunities. The APEC-NAM nexus require advanced skills in trade, investment, marketing, services and finance in the cities and industries of the more developed western half of country. It will not be an easy and smooth process. From time to time there will be setbacks and failures; there will even be bitterness and hard feelings.

But even more bitter and hard would be not to have attempted to succeed. The real challenge of the APEC-NAM process is in bringing about a more robust and self-confident Indonesian economy and polity to international competition. Indonesia has its own APEC-style problems of 'harmonization' between powerful and less powerful economies. And certainly Indonesia has its share of NAM's North-South issues in the domestic context. But these are the very linkages that must be built patiently. These are precisely the very commitments that must be sustained.

Juwono Sudarsono is a professor of International Relations at the University of Indonesia.