APEC leaders vow to settle crisis

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.

Editorial -- Page 4

Text -- Page 5

Members -- Page 16