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.