APEC leaders vow to settle crisis

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat and Kornelius Purba

VANCOUVER, Canada (JP): Leaders of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ended their meeting Tuesday with a strong united message of confidence and commitment to do whatever it takes to overcome the financial crisis gripping the region.

"We gather here to secure the stability and growth in our region," said Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien after chairing the meeting.

"The Asia Pacific region is undergoing a challenging period of financial uncertainty. We stand ready to do our part to restore confidence and security in our economy.

"We recognize the primacy of prudent and transparent policies, particularly sound macroeconomic and structural policies, human resources development strategies and effective financial sector regulation in addressing situations of this kind," he added.

In a 21-point communique titled APEC Economic Leaders' Declaration: Connecting the APEC Community, they noted that the APEC forum is "particularly well suited" in helping to foster appropriate policies and dialog.

Leaders attending the meeting Tuesday were Australia's John Howard, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Canada's Jean Chretien, Chilean Eduardo Frei, China's Jiang Zemin, Hong Kong's Tung Chee- Hwa, Indonesia's Soeharto, Japan's Ryutaro Hashimoto, Korea's Kim Young-sam, Malaysia's Mahathir Mohamad, Mexico's Ernesto Zedillo, New Zealand's Jim Bolger, Papua New Guinea's Bill Skate, the Philippines's Fidel Ramos, Singapore's Goh Chok Tong, Taiwan's Koo Chen-fu, Thailand's Chuan Leepkai and United States' Bill Clinton.

The financial crisis occupied most of Tuesday's leaders' retreat at the Museum of Anthropology on the grounds of the University of British Columbia campus.

Sitting in a "V" shaped formation with large totem poles to the left and right of them, each of the leaders expressed their views during the three-hour morning session and the primacy of the International Monetary Fund as the institution to deal with the crisis.

An official said one of the most "galvanizing" moments of the meeting was Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo's account of his country's experience in overcoming such a crisis.

Zedillo said sound macroeconomic policies must be taken to correct imbalances. Countries also needed to deal directly with the weaknesses of the banking system and obtain external financing to support adjustment, not as a way to avoid adjustment.

Zedillo warned that there was no way to protect the economy from the pain and that it was important to reveal the truth about the situation.

United States assistant to the president for international trade, Dan Tarullo, said that during the meeting Thailand's Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and Indonesia's President Soeharto reaffirmed their intention to faithfully implement the terms of the International Monetary Fund's standby loan arrangements.

Responding to calls from his colleagues for sustained U.S. involvement, President Clinton said he would convene a meeting of finance ministers to try and move the process along further.

No time or even who would be invited to such a meeting was given.

In their declaration, the leaders' also approved a framework for enhanced public-private partnerships in infrastructure development.

The framework affirmed voluntary principles for facilitating private sector participation in infrastructure by establishing a sound macroeconomic environment, a transparent legal framework and increasing the availability of long-term capital.

During an afternoon break, leaders' donned their uniform brown leather jackets and braved the chilly weather for a photo outside the museum.

Leaders also discussed environmental issues, including the upcoming environmental conference in Japan.

The meeting's chair Jean Chretien said social issues were given more focus in the meetings.

"While cooperation between governments is the hallmark of APEC, we must also continue to consolidate our partnership with other sectors of society and to invest in people in the region," he said.

"We believe that people in the region remain APEC's greatest asset. As leaders we are responsible for their well-being. Our people are the foundation on which the APEC community is built. We have committed ourselves that APEC remains responsive to their concerns," he added.

Leaders further supported a proposal to liberalize trade in nine key sectors in 1999 and urged the successful conclusion of negotiations under the World Trade Organization on the financial services markets by Dec. 12.

Meanwhile, President Soeharto was satisfied yesterday with the outcome of the APEC leaders meeting, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas said in a joint press conference with Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono during the flight which took Soeharto and his entourage to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

Moerdiono said the President had conveyed his ideas to the other leaders, including the need to set up a special fund mechanism to supplement the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Soeharto's emergency fund idea has been included in the AELM Declaration which endorses the adoption of new IMF mechanisms on a cooperative financing arrangement to supplement IMF resources.

Garuda's special flight stopped over in Zurich for one hour for refueling before continuing to Saudi Arabia where Soeharto plans to perform umrah, Moslem minor pilgrimage, with his children and grandchildren.

According to Moerdiono, APEC leaders asked U.S. President Bill Clinton to chair the APEC finance ministers' meeting to discuss the monetary crisis and possible solutions.

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