APEC and NAM: The two commitments that bind

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.