APEC meeting to be held here

APEC meeting to be held here

JAKARTA (JP): Government officials and business leaders of the
Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum will meet here
this month to discuss problems in the infrastructure sectors, an
executive said yesterday.

"Complicated regulations have slowed private sector
investments in the infrastructure sector," Secretary-General of
the Ministry of Public Works Ruslan Diwiryo said.

"That is why we will hold a discussion from Sept. 19 to Sept.
21 at the Borobudur Inter-Continental Hotel," he said.

The Public-Private Sector Dialog on APEC Cooperation in
Infrastructure will be opened by Minister of Public Works Radinal
Moochtar.

"Because investors in the infrastructure sector want to be
sure about political risks, developments of inflation and other
economic fundamentals we have to create appropriate conditions
that will support their investments," Ruslan said.

"This is important because we have to compete with the other
APEC members to get international funds for infrastructure
development," he said.

He explained that Indonesia needs about US$50 billion in
investments for infrastructure development until the end of the
century.

"This tremendous demand cannot be provided by the government
alone," he said.

A recent study by the World Bank indicates that the East Asian
region needs about $1.2 trillion to $1.5 trillion of investment
for infrastructure development through the end of the century.

"China is a great challenge for our country because it will
take half of the international funds for its infrastructure
projects," Ruslan said.

APEC groups Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, Japan, China,
Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia, Brunei, the
Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, New
Zealand and the United States.

Imam Taufik, a deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chambers of
Commerce and Industry, said that from the dialog, which will be
attended by 150 participants, Indonesia can learn about worldwide
financing.

Rahardi Ramelan, a deputy chairman of the National Development
Planning Board, explained that the results of the dialog will be
submitted at the APEC summit in November in Japan. (31)