APEC welcomes business

APEC welcomes business

By Meidyatama
Suryodiningrat

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Senior officials from the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries endorsed private
sector participation yesterday by recognizing the Asia Pacific
Business Network (APB Net).

The delegates gathered during the second day of the APEC
Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) expressed support of the business
forum after hearing a report from the Vice-Chairman of the
Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), Husein
Aminuddin, on APB Net's establishment.

Wisber Loeis, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Director
General for Foreign Economic Relations, affirmed the support when
he told reporters, "there is no doubt that the activities of the
private sector must be facilitated by APEC."

He explained that the overall commitment to supporting private
sector participation and more specifically the APB Net will be
reflected in the summary issued at the end of the meeting today.

The three-day SOM is the second in a series of four meetings
preceding the APEC Ministerial Meeting in Jakarta, which is
scheduled for the middle of November.

APEC groups 17-member economies in the Asia-Pacific region
(Canada, the United States, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, China, Hong
Kong, South Korea, Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand)
and the six-members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and
Brunei).

Vital

Elaborating on the APB Net, Aminuddin said it is expected to
function as an appropriate forum to forge closer ties and joint
business ventures for individual businesses, notably small and
medium-scale enterprises, throughout the region.

" More importantly, the APB Net can also serve as a vital
source of information for the business community," Aminuddin, who
is also chairman of the Sekbertal Spinners Association, said.

"The perceived lack of information has hampered the
participation of the business sector in APEC activities," Husein
said.

The APB Net was originally conceived during the March meeting
of the APEC Working Group on Trade Promotion in Bali. The meeting
assigned Indonesia and Australia to jointly organize the
inaugural meeting of APB Net in Jakarta on Aug. 24-25.

Despite the seeming unity among APEC members on the issue of
private sector participation, some delegates voiced reservations
about the new forum.

A member of the KADIN delegation said that the Japanese
representatives were especially cautious about the new body,
preferring instead the already existing organizations within the
APEC forum.

Wisber also acknowledged that not all the APEC members would
"fully participate" in the business forum due to the size of
their national economies.

PBF

Wisber stressed that the APB Net will in no way conflict with
a similar body called the Pacific Business Forum (PBF).

The PBF was created as a result of the first informal APEC
leaders' meeting in Seattle last November.

According to the arrangements agreed upon in Seattle, each
member will assign two representatives to the PBF.

Indonesia has selected A.R. Ramly, Chairman of PT Astra
International, and former Minister of Cooperatives Bustanil
Arifin as its representatives in the PBF.

"They (the APB Net) have no desire to compete with the PBF.
they wish to support it," Wisber said.

"PBF will serve mainly as a policy-making and research forum,
while the APB Net will be the doers, creating and enhancing
business linkages throughout the region," Aminuddin added.

A team of delegates headed by Mrs. Saodah Syahruddin, director
for economic relations among developing countries at the
Indonesian Foreign Ministry, yesterday began to work on the
final draft of the summary of the meeting.

The summary is expected to be completed by this morning and to
be presented to the SOM for approval at the final session today.