APEC and the economy

APEC and the economy

From Merdeka

Knowing that industries and trade are marking good progress in the Southeast Asian region, it seems to me that countries such as Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Singapore are not particularly enthusiastic about the results of the APEC summits. With or without APEC summits, these countries' economies are fairly stable. They have no financial problems like bad loans, price fluctuations etc.

Indonesia, on the other hand, is currently experiencing various problems in financial matters such as bad loans, increased foreign loans, price increases in the wake of high inflation, the government's plan to increase tax on fuel and price increases of low-cost houses. The latter case will only make it harder for developers to repay their debts. Therefore, Indonesia has good reasons for hoping to benefit from APEC summits. It can promote its non-oil exports, for example.

H.G. MALIKMASS

Jakarta